7 suspected illegal miners dead, more than 20 others missing in landslide in Zambia

By TSVANGIRAYI MUKWAZHI
Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Police and local authorities say seven suspected illegal miners have been confirmed dead and more than 20 others are missing and presumed dead after heavy rains caused landslides that buried them inside tunnels they had been digging at a copper mine in Zambia. Police say no bodies have yet been retrieved after the landslides late on Thursday night at an open-pit mine in the city of Chingola, on the copper-belt. They said in a statement Saturday that many of the victims are believed to have drowned. Police didn’t say how many miners in total there were in the tunnels but Chingola District Commissioner Raphael Chumupi told The Associated Press that there were at least 36.