A survivor is pulled out of a Zambian mine nearly a week after being trapped. Dozens remain missing
Rescuers say a man has been pulled alive out of a Zambian mine nearly a week after dozens of informal miners were trapped under landslides caused by heavy rain
LUSAKA, Zambia — A man has been pulled alive out of a Zambian mine nearly a week after dozens of informal miners were trapped under landslides caused by heavy rain, rescuers said Wednesday.
Two bodies were also retrieved from underneath debris at the open-pit mine in the southern African country's Copperbelt province. Government officials said more than 30 miners could still be trapped underground, although they were uncertain of the exact number.
The 49-year-old survivor was rescued Tuesday night, according to a statement by Zambia’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit. He told rescuers he had been struggling for five days to find a way out of one of the collapsed tunnels at the copper mine near the city of Chingola, around 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Lusaka, the statement said.
The man was taken to the hospital, rescuers said. They gave no details on his medical condition but said he was able to talk to officials from his hospital bed.
One body was recovered a few hours after the miner's rescue and a second body was found and taken out later Wednesday, but they were yet to be identified, the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit said.
The bodies are the first to be recovered following the disaster last week.
After the rescue, government officials told reporters that 38 families had reported missing relatives, but those reports had to be verified. The government has previously said more than 30 miners were trapped, while the district commissioner of the area has said at least 36 miners were underground when the landslides hit, burying
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