Sensele Copper mine in Chingola District on the Copperbelt has recorded another fatal accident in which A-49- year old illegal miner of Chiwempala area has died after the earth fell on him whilst doing illegal mining at the open pit mine near Debra’s site.
The incident occurred on December 24th 2023 at around 11:00.
This has happened while the rescue team comprising the Konkola Copper Mine, Mimbula Mine, Mapani, the Zambia Army, and the Zambia National service are still searching for more than 31 miners who were trapped 25 days ago.
Copperbelt Province Commanding officer Peacewell Mweemba confirmed the incident that Emmanuel was conducting Illegal mining activities when he met his fate after the earth collapsed on him and died instantly.
He disclosed that this was after mine inspector Mutocha Luhana during his routine inspections, received reports from other illegal miners about the accident.
He said the brief facts are that on December 24th 2023 around 07:00 Emmanuel left home to do illegal mining at the open pit mines.
Mr Mweemba stated that at around 11:00 hours whilst loading some copper ore which was already dug, he slipped and a piece of land fell on him.
“The earth fell on him and buried him completely only leaving the hand which was raised up, thereafter other illegal miners managed to retrieve him and was rushed to Nchanga north general hospital where he was pronounced dead,” he said
Mr Mweemba explained that the police inspected the dead body and discovered that he had sustained a deep cut on the right side of the face and blood coming out of the mouth and nose.
He noted that the body has since been deposited in Nchanga north general hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem and burial, and an inquiry file opened.
The rescue operation of the 36 trapped SenselE illegal miners who were buried alive is on going, the number of retrieved bodies so far is 12 one was retrieved alive, 11 were dead bodies.
Sad development!
Why sad? These guys have energy to dig, they can use in gardening. There is more money in gardening than mining. Give them land.
This government never learns. So they left the death trap open to claim more lives. Be serious people… that place should have been sealed off 24/7
These aren’t children but grown men who know or ought to know the risks. There’s also such a thing as personal responsibility and criminal trespass laws. There’s simply no government on planet Earth that shields citizens from personal responsibility.
Learn to read and understand. and if you don’t understand, ask your grade 5 child to explain.
Copperbelt Province Commanding officer Peacewell Mweemba confirmed the incident that Emmanuel was conducting Illegal mining activities when he met his fate after the earth collapsed on him and died instantly.
@Deja Vu: “The government”? So now it is the responsibility of the UPND government to help criminals commit crime safely? Why are these people stealing? The government cannot and should not baby sit every criminal in Zambia to ensure that he does not hurt himself while committing risky crime. The only job of the government should be to arrest and charge these criminals for their crime. To paraphrase your own language “people are needy everywhere in Zambia (thanks to PF looting them into poverty), but they do not feel entitled to steal in order to ameliorate their condition”. It is always the fault of the criminal. These people should stop stealing. I do not know why you have a problem with that concept
@Gunner in Zambia: Exactly! Every one should understand stealing is not only illegal, it is wrong. These people have no one to blame but themselves. It is amazing how many people have voted against you, in essence stating that they the not only condone stealing, but they commend criminals for doing it. These people were stealing. They were committing crime. The government should prosecute them. No one here should be glorifying crime.
Illegalities are risky and deadly. Some people want to claim that its government at fault. NO NO NO NO. When arrests are made for illegalities, same people would have been saying government is arresting young people
@MunaDekhane: Exactly! I cannot believe that the majority of the people are voting against you for stating something that is straightforward and true. Do we come from the same country? How can people have such a supportive attitude to stealing? These people are criminals. They are wrong for stealing.
The above three clowns…..we employ the police to control crime and what the deceased was doing is included…. use logic… people had just died so how does a normal and responsible government forget so soon and go to sleep. That area is equivalent to a Crime Scene..
Should be out of bounds… but it’s like talking to imbeciles.
@Deja Vu: The JOB of the POLICE IS NOT TO CONTROL CRIME. THE JOB OF THE POLICE IS NOT TO MAKE CRIME SAFE FOR THE CRIMINALS. The job of the police is to secure innocent people from criminals. The job of the police is to arrest criminals, and in the process, possibly deter them from the desire to commit more crime. The death of a criminal in the commission of a crime is the fault of the criminal alone. The rest of us refuse to pay additional taxes so that the government can hire an individual police man to follow each one of you around, to stop you when you try to commit crime. The laws of the land are written on paper for a reason. If you commit crime, the police should investigate, catch, arrest and charge you with the crime. Period. Stop committing crime.
One of the primary responsibilities of the police is to control and prevent crime. Law enforcement agencies are tasked with maintaining public order, ensuring the safety of citizens, and enforcing laws to deter criminal activity. Police officers are trained to respond to emergencies, investigate crimes, make arrests, and work towards preventing criminal behavior through community policing and other proactive measures. Controlling crime is a fundamental aspect of the police’s role in society.
I apologize on behalf of sensible UPND Supporters
@@ INDEPENDENT OBSERVER Thank you for validating that the job of the Police to CONTROL and PREVENT crime
@@Deja Vu – Nice one! We are dealing with a blind and retard in @ I hate Kaizer Zulu
@@ I hate Kaizar Zulu you are a Bufoooon
The reason a president or HH has security 24/7 by the police is to protect him from crime happening on him. It means the police are there to prevent bandits from attacking him if he was not protected. Which also means controlling crime from happening by those tempting to harm him or even assassinate him.
How can someone fail to understand this ??
This is someone continuing with an illegality knowing full well that the country is trying to retrieve other illegal miners like him that are said to have perished there. Someone thinks it’s govt responsibility puliiizi!
@Ndine: Exactly. You know that Copperbelt is not the only part of Zambia that has minerals. Other people in other provinces in Zambia could be digging illegal mines to steal minerals, but they choose not to. These people in Chingola have chosen to steal, out an entitlement mentality. They are paying for this with their lives, and it is their fault alone. @Deja Vu: if you care so much about the lives of these people, go to Chingola and tell them not to steal
Yes it is government’s responsibility to safe guard lives….. common sense says when you see a danger secure the place…. there’s a mineral there so people will take chances and that’s where government comes… citizens are like little children who should be protected from braziers and other stuff.
Does it look normal to let such place open?
Ndiwe sure So we should leave the roads free of these stupid police roadblocks ka? Because we all have responsibility to follow road rules and other laws-why should anyone police us? The bars must remain open 24/7 we all have responsibility to know when to stop drinking
Wonders never, its barely a month since the accident happened. This area is supposed to be sealed off with a red tape, Mine police should have been guarding the area 24/7 and a big notice put there, ‘NO MINING IN THIS AREA IF FOUND YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED’.
I’m happy there’s at least one sensible person here. The other commentators it’s about defending their party. When we have an accident underground MSD closes that area until remedial steps have been taken… this is not different.
Government was supposed to put this place under 24 hours out of bounds.
@Nakulu: Zambia is full of mineral. If the government had a responsibility to seal off every piece of land that has minerals in it, more than 90% of the land would sealed off with tape. However, in other parts of the country, people do not consider it a fundamental right to steal. The eke out an honest living. I support those people. I oppose those who believe that stealing is their inherent right. Stealing IS WRONG!!! If you die while stealing, it is your fault. That is what people believe everywhere else in the world. It is not job of the government to follow you around to stop you from stealing. @Dej vu: repeat after me” “Stealing is wrong; it is always the fault of the thief if something bad happens to him while he is stealing”
Zambian reporters. Is it Senseli or Sensele or Sensela? You change it with every report. Check the nitty gritties before publishing. Yesterday you were complaining about foreign companies being preferred for cleaning contracts. Its because they pay attention to the nitty gritties!!
Whether Illegal or authorised mining, when a rescue action is under way every mining operations in that same area must halt. So KCM, Mopani, Mimbula, ZArmy and ZNS are all overpowered by that lone man? Seal off that mine, please so that no one accesses it.
Konkola Copper Mine, Mimbula Mine, Mapani, the Zambia Army, and the Zambia National service are still
@My Zambia: Proper business should continue. What should stop and never happen again is theft and illegal mining. Rescuing these people and recovering their bodies is costing the government money which could be used to provide clean water, build schools, and alleviate poverty. Stealing is the problem, and stop blaming people you yourselves invited into the country to provide jobs to honest, hard working people.
At Mopani all areas under the mine are sealed off whether there are works or not, whether operational or not. Mine police patrol all these areas because they understand that it’s their duty to guard their property and the safety of every life criminal or not.
Please HH Please!! Deploy the police everywhere, or we are going to steal. Where I come from, people would not understand this mentality. “STEAL?” Why? The Copperbelt is one of the best rained provinces in our country. These people could be putting their labour to productive use by growing maize. Oh wait, Chipuba grabbed the land that always belonged to Zambians, sold it his homosexual friends from Lebanon, and gave much of what remained to Boers from South Africa… So that free land that existed under Kaunda, which allowed any able and willing Zambia, to put a hoe to, and grow himself whatever he wanted, no longer exists…
Clearly you’re not understanding what we mean by sealing off the area under discussion. As it is now this area is prone to accidents and we don’t want more lives to be lost. So in this particular scenario the powers that be are obliged to seal off the area and deploy security personnel to deter any illegal trespassers.
This is not about political parties. Its about lives being lost.
Some clown here says it is not government….blah blah blah. But the same mine bought very expressive coffins for the same ” criminal illegal miners”….. something is severely wrong in this country.
@Deja Vu: If these friends of yours in Chingola would not steal, they would not die, and we would not have to spend hard earned money to rescue them, recover their bodies, and bury them. The fact that we are buying coffins for them is nothing but misplaced charity. People in Zambia who die of honest natural causes, or in the commission of nefarious crimes are not bought government coffins. This is why we need a clearer constitution. No government official should be able to issue money to pay the cost of things that have not been agreed to by the rest of us. Yes, someone is trying to show sympathy in the face of a disaster, but the disaster is a result of crime. If you want to buy coffins that way, get them for those dying the cholera caused by corruption of MMD/PF
Pssst the coffins were a political campaign statement
* the same government bought,,*
About TD Jakes: https://youtu.be/jHhAPDFx2wQ The man and Kaizar Zulu share the same sexual proclivities apparently…
You can never understand Zambian politicians. Someone talks about people going back to the land but, instead of empowering the youth to start farming he goes and “empowers” them to mine illegally in a pit belonging to ZCCM. If he is truly serious about farming as he claims, why not give these youths land in Lufwanyama and give them either CDF or CEEC loans to start farming??
Anyway, he is Mr. Rhetoric!
Those who have an to the ground… which minister (s) has resigned from cabinet? Update please.
Just who owns Sensele Mine? What are the records at PACRA state