GOVERNMENT has accorded a state-assisted funeral to the six artisanal miners who died in a mine dump landslide in Kwekwe on Thursday afternoon.
A funeral parade for the six people who perished at Old Homesteak mine dump was held in kwekwe this Sunday.
The six are: Simon Chauke, Offias Ncube, Edward Phiri, Gasiyani Banda, Marshall Mpofu and Ephraim Ncube.
Relatives of the deceased artisanal miners thanked the government for the intervention.
“We are very grateful to our government for coming to our rescue. It was a tough call as the accident just happened when we never expected. He was the breadwinner in the family. The loss is just too much to bear. However, I want to thank the government for coming to our rescue. I don’t know what we could have done without this help,” said another relative.
Government warned miners against trying their luck at disused mines.
“I want to commend our Central Protection Unit for the swift response.Their actions managed to save a single life and we managed to retrieve all the bodies on time. I just want to urge our artisanal miners to always consider their safety first before embarking on mining activities,” said Ministry of Local Government and Public Works’ acting director, Mr Charlton Murove Issues of safety in mining communities are topical as the country continues to lose lives especially amongst the artisanal mining community, with government now urging law enforcement agencies to continuously monitor such operations.