Zimbabwe has temporarily suspended rescue operations at a collapsed mine amidst safety concerns.
Nine informal miners are still believed trapped underground, almost two weeks after a rockfall at a disused mine shaft north-east of the capital.
The government has blamed indiscriminate blasting for the accident in Bindura.
The remains of one miner were retrieved last Monday days after a rescuer was killed by rockfall.
Since the initial collapse, more cave-ins have occurred.
The mine ministry’s chief engineer Michael Munodawafa told the BBC that it’s now too dangerous to go in, but that engineers continue to monitor the situation so that operations can resume.
The rescue has been compounded by the volume of underground water, and draining it has also increased instability within the shaft, Mr Munodawafa said.
The informal miners’ families continue to live at the site, under tents donated by funeral homes. They are refusing to leave until their relatives are found.
But many of them have lost hope of finding them alive.
Artisinal mining is largely unsafe, often carried out by youth desperate for quick income in a troubled economy. BBC
