Zimbabwe rescues all 15 trapped miners alive

Rescuers on Sunday pulled out all 15 subsistence mine workers who were trapped in an underground shaft at Redwing mine in Zimbabwe after it collapsed on Thursday, a government spokesman said.

The miners were trapped after a ground collapse at the mine, 270 km (167.77 miles) east of the capital Harare.

“All miners were rescued alive,” government spokesperson Nick Mangwana said.

The rescue operation had been delayed due to unstable ground according to Metallon Gold, which owns Redwing.

Video footage posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, by Mangwana showed the workers, covered in mud, being greeted by a small jubilant crowd at the mine site.

Formal mining operations at Redwing have been undertaken by subsistence miners carrying out unsanctioned work since the mine was placed under corporate rescue in 2020, the company said.

(By Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Nelson Banya and Susan Fenton)