RAINS CLAIM LIVES IN MERERANI
From SUKHDEV CHHATBAR in Arusha
At least 75 miners are missing and believed to have died in mines following Friday’s heavy rains at Mererani, the world’s only producer of Tanzanite, a semi-precious blue-purple stone used by the jewellery industry.
Manyara Regional Commissioner Henry Shekifu says mine owners reported the 75 men went missing Friday as heavy rains pounded their mines in Mererani, 25 miles southeast of Arusha.
Shekifu said that the government was to assess the situation and consider how fast to get equipment to the mines to drain the water in hopes of retrieving the men.
“We want to first take stock of the situation and act swiftly,” he told this reporter, as he was rushing the scene of the accident at Block “B”.
He did not rule out the death toll to be much higher.
”The death rate can be much higher but we can only say that once we have all the information from affected mine pits.”
He said that the rains entered about eight pits and later spread underneath to other mines, drowning miners at work.
Reports from Mererani say that five bodies have already been fished out with the help of miners in the area and volunteers.
The dead identified are: Nelson Mmari(31), Uda Njau(40), Yonas Paul (28) and one person identified by only one name as Mushi. Another person is yet to be identified.
The bodies were rushed to the Mount Meru Hospital in Arusha for preservation and to be collected by their relatives. The area was filled by relatives and miners anxious to know fate of their loved ones.
Suddenly, Mererani normally bubbling with activities was caught in a somber mood. The exercise to fast recover bodies was partly hampered because electric poles were also washed away leaving the area without any electricity.
However, Tanesco engineers were making frantic efforts yesterday to restore electricity so that water pumps can begin to suck out water from the water-filled pits. Some private miners brought their small generators for the exercise but are not enough to speed up the exercise.
More bodies are expected today if the electricity will be restored and equipment brought in timely.
Mererani witnessed one of the worst accident in 1998 when about 100 miners died following the El-nino rains.
In 2002, again 40 lives were lost when miners were trapped inside after an oxygen machine failed
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MENGI SANA.ILA BAADAYE MTAJUA TU
Kwa kweli inasikitisha sana, nimepitia katika vyombo vyetu vya habari hakuna chombo kilichogusia habari hizi nzito na pigo la Taifa la kupoteza vijana wenye nguvu na wachapa kazi. Mungu ajalie zoezi la uokoaji ili wapatikane hao jamaa.Amen
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