Correspondent|RESCUE workers retrieved 24 bodies and eight survivors Saturday from two flooded gold mines in Battlefields where officials fear dozens more illegal miners are still trapped.

The two disused mines are situated near the town of Kadoma, 175 kilometres southwest of the capital Harare.

The rescued received medical attention on site before being take to hospital, but were in a stable condition, the report added.

In a clip posted on Twitter, one survivor told journalists that the waters had risen to neck level, forcing them to stand for days until it receded.

On Friday the government said that between 60 and 70 “artisanal” miners were trapped in two shafts.

It launched an appeal for $200,000 to be used “to pump out water, feeding the bereaved families and the (rescue) teams on the ground, transportation and burial of the victims”, Minister July Moyo said in a statement.

“Given the magnitude of this disaster, we kindly appeal to individuals, development partners and the corporate world for assistance in cash and kind,” he said.

Formal unemployment is estimated at over 90 percent and artisanal gold mining, mostly in mines long abandoned by big corporates, is widespread providing a source of income for many.

Artisanal mining is not banned outright in Zimbabwe, and is largely unregulated.