Against that backdrop, hopes were dim as rescue efforts began after Saturday's incident. "We quickly mobilized people to clear the rubble that was blocking the entrance. It was on the morning of this Saturday... that they managed to save these nine souls," local civil society representative Crispin Kayuka told Reuters via telephone. (Reporting by Sonia Rolley; Editing by Sofia Christensen, Estelle Shirbon and Sharon Singleton)
KINSHASA, March 27 (Reuters) - A video showing nine
Congolese miners unexpectedly popping out of a collapsed gold
mine and tumbling down a steep slope as onlookers cry out in joy
has gone viral in Democratic Republic of Congo, a rare happy
ending to an all-too-common story.
Mining accidents are rife in the giant Central African
country, especially at small, artisanal sites such as the one in
South Kivu province that collapsed on Saturday following heavy
rain.
The video shows a man precariously perched on the side of a
steep slope of rubble, frantically digging with a spade while a
group of other men stand in a large circle around him, watching.
All of a sudden, a miner pops out of the rubble and slides
down the slope, borne by his own momentum, as the onlookers
break out in cheers of surprise and delight.
The rescuer is then seen redoubling his efforts, forsaking
the spade to dig through the rubble with his bare hands. Another
miner soon appears, then another, and within two minutes a total
of nine men have come out alive and well.
Reuters has verified the video, which was widely shared on
social media.
A lack of safety procedures and proper equipment are at the
root of frequent tunnel collapses at Congolese mines, in which
miners are trapped underground with slim chances of survival.
Two miners died in a similar incident at a nearby informal
digging site in early March.
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