The official death toll in a fatal mining accident in Zimbabwe has risen to 13 after the government gave up hopes of finding four missing miners still alive, officials said.
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Zimbabwe's Vice President Constantino Chiwenga told dpa on Sunday that there was no longer any hope of finding four miners who have been missing since the illegal mining shaft collapsed on Friday.
A total of 34 miners were trapped while illegally mining gold in an abandoned mining shaft in Chegutu, about 100 kilometres north-west of the capital Harare. Rescue teams recovered 21 survivors and found nine bodies.
"We unfortunately have to contend with the reality that the four still missing are already dead," Chiwenga said.
"We would like to thank our rescue teams for the effort they put to rescue 21 people alive," he said.
"They have managed to discover nine bodies, but it has been difficult to take them from the collapsed shaft."
The head of the disaster response unit, Nathan Nkomo, told dpa that the rescue effort was hindered by a lack of proper resources.
"The reality is that we do not have enough resources for these kinds of situations. More lives could have been saved," he said.
Zimbabwe has a long history of mine accidents. The deadliest remains the 1972 Wankie coal mine disaster, when a series of underground explosions at a British-owned mine in what was then known as Rhodesia killed 427 people.
Australian Associated Press
