Chongwe mine disaster results in three fatalities

In Chongwe, THREE miners perished when a rock crashed on them while they were working underground.

Today, January 19, 2023, at approximately 8:20 a.m., the incident took place in the Chongwe District’s Kasenga B neighborhood.

The deceased have been named as Shi, a Chinese national aged 40, Bupe Malambo, 21, and Robert Hawele, 22, according to police deputy spokesperson Danny Mwale, while Frank Tokolwe, aged 26, and John Kasapato, aged 22, managed to escape the incident with injuries.

According to him, the victims are all from the Chongwe District’s Kasenga neighborhood.

“Police officers visited the scene and investigations revealed that today, January 19, 2023 around 07:00 hours, 24 miners were working underground the mine. The five victims were working separately at one section where they were extracting copper ore when a rock fell on them,” he said.

Three of the victims were declared dead at Levy Mwanawasa Teaching Hospitals when they arrived, according to Mr. Mwale, while the other two were brought to the hospital where they are being treated.

He declared that police have started an investigation.