A search for precious minerals ended in heartbreak for a family in Nsanje District after a 39-year-old man was buried alive when a mining pit collapsed on him.
The deceased, identified as Luciano Laelo, died after an underground mining pit collapsed on him while he was allegedly conducting illegal mining activities at Nyuwani Village under Traditional Authority Mbenje in the district.
Nsanje Police Public Relations Officer, Constable Jabulani Ng’oma, said the incident occurred at around 3pm after Laelo dug an underground channel that suddenly gave way, trapping him beneath the soil.
Ng’oma said the deceased’s brother, White Mofolo, reported the matter to police after people nearby rushed to rescue Laelo from the collapsed pit
.
“People who were at the scene managed to retrieve him while unconscious. Police officers visited the scene and took him to Kalemba Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival,” said Ng’oma.
A postmortem examination established that Laelo died due to suffocation.
Following the incident, police have cautioned members of the public against engaging in illegal and unsafe mining activities, warning that such practices continue to put lives at risk.
The latest tragedy comes barely a month after another fatal accident in the same village, where a 12-year-old boy, Watson Matolabasi, died after a heap of soil collapsed on him while he was playing in an abandoned mining pit left behind by illegal miners.
The deceased, identified as Luciano Laelo, died after an underground mining pit collapsed on him while he was allegedly conducting illegal mining activities at Nyuwani Village under Traditional Authority Mbenje in the district.
Nsanje Police Public Relations Officer, Constable Jabulani Ng’oma, said the incident occurred at around 3pm after Laelo dug an underground channel that suddenly gave way, trapping him beneath the soil.
Ng’oma said the deceased’s brother, White Mofolo, reported the matter to police after people nearby rushed to rescue Laelo from the collapsed pit
.
“People who were at the scene managed to retrieve him while unconscious. Police officers visited the scene and took him to Kalemba Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival,” said Ng’oma.
A postmortem examination established that Laelo died due to suffocation.
Following the incident, police have cautioned members of the public against engaging in illegal and unsafe mining activities, warning that such practices continue to put lives at risk.
The latest tragedy comes barely a month after another fatal accident in the same village, where a 12-year-old boy, Watson Matolabasi, died after a heap of soil collapsed on him while he was playing in an abandoned mining pit left behind by illegal miners.
