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Narrow alleys obstruct Mererani rescue efforts
2008-04-02 10:42:33
By Adam Ihucha and Novatus Makunga, PST, Mererani
Narrow deep underground passages have slowed down ongoing rescue operations meant to pull out dozens of miners still trapped in Mererani tanzanite mining pits.
The pits are located in Simanjiro District and were engulfed by floods on Saturday following torrential rains that flooded the pits, with some 160 small-scale miners underground.
Just over half the number were rescued, while 16 bodies have been recovered and over 40 miners are still unaccounted for.
Scores of rescuers working day and night down the pits said they wished they moved faster but they lacked proper facilities to move the bodies out through the winding alleys.
Some bodies were found as deep as 300 meters underground, were as most decomposed.
According to Manyara Regional Commissioner Henry Shekifu ten bodies were recovered yesterday, and hence the total of 16 recovered since the disaster struck.
The rescue team informed RC Shekifu and Energy and Minerals minister William Ngeleja, both now camping at the site, that the bodies had decomposed and could not easily be moved out through the narrow passages.
The bodies mostly recently recovered were found in a mine belonging to Elisante Mwenda, the mine`s management saying at least 14 miners went underground on the fateful day.
That meant four bodies were yet to be recovered from the particular pit.
The pit in which the most miners appear to have succumbed to the floods is the popular `Block B, which belongs to small-scale miners. Some 70 of them have gone missing since Saturday night, when four hours of heavy rain flooded the pits.
President Jakaya Kikwete visited the scene of accident on Monday to assess the situation of the ground. He also ordered that the search and rescue operation be concluded by today for mining activities to resume.
There have been complaints that it has taken too long to retrieve the miners still trapped underground, all now presumed dead.
``Imagine it is four whole days since the floods struck and we are still talking of just 16 out of as many as 60 bodies recovered.
This is a huge disgrace amounting to a scandal,`` remarked Hassan Alphonce, a tanzanite miner at Fred Mbwambo’s mining site.
But Manyara regional officials say their initial search and rescue efforts were hampered by lack of proper equipment.
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