The Battlefields disaster, where close to 50 illegal miners could have died in flooded tunnels, may have been caused by mining activities along a water channel.

In an interview after visiting the site, Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Polite Kambamura said preliminary assessments led to the conclusion which was against the law.

“These miners were operating along a water channel which is against the Mines and Minerals Act. They tried to block the water channel 300 metres away from where the shafts are but there was a flood,” he said.

He said there was need to capacitate provincial and regional offices to conduct inspections of operations across the country.

Meanwhile, efforts to drain water from the tunnels and shafts at Cricket No. 3 Mine and Baxter Mine are continuing as efforts continue to retrieve the bodies of the victims.

State Media