One miner has died in an underground accident at the Chinese owned Collum Coal Mine while two others are battling for their lives at Maamba Hospital in Sinazongwe district.
Sinazongwe District Administrative Officer Sokoluku Daka, Sinazongwe Member of Parliament Richwell Siamunene and
Nkanddabwe Ward Councilor Partson Mangunje confirmed the accident that happened on Tuesday 17th January at 13:30 hours.
An eye witness, Geshom Muchindu, a miner who was underground at the time of the accident disclosed that the accident occurred after blasting underground.
Mr. Muchindu alleged that before dust settled the Chinese supervisor ordered them to go and work in the tunnel where blasting had just been done.He said there was a rock fall on three of the miners and killed one on the spot
while the others were severely injured.
And one of the injured, Dought Mudenda also said the Chinese Supervisor only named as Ruin forced them to enter the tunnel where blasting was done and allegedly threatened them that he would deduct their working hours if they refused.
However, the Chinese supervisors at Shaft three where the accident happened refused to comment and claimed that they did not understand English.
Mr. Daka named the deceased as Gibson Siachivwenya aged 37 and the two injured person as Wispo Mayiya aged 36, and Dought Mudenda aged 23.
Meanwhile, Sinazongwe Member of Parliament Richwell Siamunene has condemned the incident and attributed it to poor safety measures that the company management have been using to conduct their underground mining activities.
Mr. Siamunene called on the Ministry of Mines to give the public the full details of the report pertaining to the operations of the mine where accidents have continued to occur.
And Nkanddabwe Ward Councilor Partson Mangunje said government should look into the safety of the mine to protect the lives of miners.
Mr. Mangunje said despite the Ministry of Mines officers inspecting all shafts at the mine the public has not been informed about the safety of the Chinese owned Collum Coal mine.
He alleged that management has no qualified personnel to handle the explosives used for blasting underground.
The body of the deceased miner is at Maamba Hospital Mortuary.
[Zanis]
ma ma ma!!!! just wait for kambwili`s reaction.
iwe, ha,ha,ha he,he,he. yaba! walipena iwe. wandepula. what a funny comment.
if these Chinese supervisors don’t understand english, how do their communicate with their workers? I have always thought that whoever applied for a Zambian working visa spoke some English.
My thoughts exactly. How does someone working in such a hazardous environment not have a common language with his team? This is preposterous.
why are these chinese *****s killing our men and you just look at them…….are we so low that we can just let go…..hhhhiiiiishhhh….i can kill some one…please…this is so hectic…my tongue is fast than the brain…….but still it translates into the same thing…..killing someone!!!!!
Chinese so harsh? jail the bastard, make him pay for this stupid thing. Why should we keep allowing Chinese take lives of Zambians if Zambians can also do the job of supervising. I feel sorry for the man who has died. This asian stupid vegetable needs life imprisonment. Government should look into this, its getting out of hand.
This is pure bullshit that a place like America would not allow, the supervisor need to be fired first and then arrested. The mine should also be fined and compensate the deceased family and the injured billions of kwachas
why fine it? just close it and reposses chapwa, kwasila.
Please Honourable Kambwili help these people in this mine, they have been working in a bad and cruel environment with these fake Chinese investors. I am always hate each time i hear about Collum Coal mine. Does it mean the government of Zambia thru the Labour Minister does have any power to close this mine? or comand the owners to change the working culture? PLease you pipo help these poor miners before they all.
Kambwili please deal with these no for good infesters before they kill more people.We need sanity in the labour ministry, deal with people who are issuing work permits to these misfits. How can a supervisor allow people to go and work in an area were blasting has just taken place. Are they not sacrificing our people for their rituals? Visit that mine and get first hand information, investigate and reprimand them vehemently.
It is only a few days ago when Mines Minister was in record saying this govt is on top of things and things could not be any better. If that statement from the minister was true, which mines was he referring to? A man of his standing surely must know that coal mines is next to deep Golding mining in terms of being risky. How come at this mine workers are not working under good mining practices especially for coal mining? We know PF is just for some parts of this country but surely life must be respected even when you hate the people.
Fellow bloggers, bear in mind that worse things are happening to the Chinese miners in the Chinese Coal mines right in their countries. So for these incidents here, unless you are vigilant in implementing your measures, it is nothing to these guys. Read the history of coal mine disasters (it is ongoing) and you will not be surprised by the attitudes in that Collum mine.
my heart goes to the family that have lost the beloved one probably thr breadwinner.my appeal goes to the relevant authorities to look into the matter to save more lives
This is a matter for the Mines Safety Dept. Â Entry into a blasted area without barring down as you go and without adequate water and air in the tunnel is criminal. Â If you don’t get killed by a rock fall, you will be killed by the poisonous fumes. It is against the Mining Regulations. Â It is not even a labour relations issue. Â It is for Wibur Simuusa and his Ministry of Mines to deal with, not Kambwili. Let us see if the PFooters will close this mine as it deserves to be!
@Kalok, don’t be silly by trying to behave as if nothing is wrong. Yes China is big and with a huge population, but who the f@#k are u to compare it with Zambia. Life is more valuable than anything you can ever dream of, you stupid.
How can this be happening now? We thought that PF would sort out the Chinese infesters and not eat with them at state house? We will see how they will bark on this one.
I thought that Zambians voted for PF so that they could bring sanity to such?
PF please we want change, change………..!!!! NOT SAME MMDs neglect of its people.
i know whichever minister will go there will come back with sacks of dollars the liato way. thats how these tumachoncholi operate. have we forgotten the recent luncheon at state house? if we had serious leaders in this country, (our president included), this nonsense of accidents would have long gone with the bigrim disaster at chambishi mine. but why is it that these *****s still disregard our safety laws? what drives them? am pf but very angry at our party on this one. i will be back!!!
LT stop being funny. what moderation? let bloggers judge if my comments are good or bad. who are you to censor postings. ome on, stop it.
USE A FAKE EMAIL ADDRESS.Â
L.T HAS LISTED THE ONE YOU USE.
Basoke mwandi.
Good afternoon ladies and Gentlemen,It pains me alot to have such Investors in our beloved country.Where is the man of action?
#17 When the ‘man of action’ is quiet then you know that he is currently bedridden.
@18 dont kutina, this is no laughing matter ma bro, lives are being lost day in day out in these chinese owned mines and nothing is being done. by the way, who is benefiting more on these mines? is it us zambians or foreigners?
what a way of life. government must not slumber over matters safety and health at work, they rob the nation of human resources and family bread winners. this should not be tolerated. there is need to start prosecuting these chinese *****s
who fail to respect the decency of humanity and have made it a habit abusing zambians by subjecting them to inhuman working conditions by taking advantage of their needy to work
Too bad.
this is sudening we dont want another bilgrim accident to happen here in our country by this short and stupid investers of MMD now killers of innocent poor zambians,may his soul rest in peace.
Nobody asked me but what if, instead of closing the mine, for each tragic incident like this, the penalty was the loss of a significant portiob of the Chinese share of ownership of the mine?
If it were made clear to the Chinese that the best way to avoid losing their investment altogether was to insure workers’ safety, I would think safety would become Job One at Collum.
Having worked in some zambian mines on the Copperbelt, i have seen the high levels of safety applied and this manifests in the number of casualties despite large numbers of workmen. This little mine has killed so many people than even what the gvt even knows. It really sucks to note that even the so called great leaders we have had have failed to correct the wrongs of this mine. perhaps we need to find  out who the real owner is. may be one of ‘us’ is benefiting in there!Â
Sad news another Zambian life lost while the country watches helplessly. Two days ago Chinese ambassador issued a press statement that all Chinese mines in Zambia have complied to government safety regulations. We cany blame the Chinese, we are to blame ourselves. When a sefety press statement was issued by a Chinese ambassador who verified it? The whole incidence lies squarely on Shamenda minister of Labour then. Mr Shamenda is an accomplished labour leader who should be aware of labour laws and regulations. If Iwere him I would have verified it personally and satisfy myself. This is due to the poor safety measures are reputed for in work places. Mr Shamenda has betrayed the trust president Sata had entrusted him with to protect Zambian workers. I have no doubt in my mind that Mr sata
President Sata would want to know what happened and what measures did mr Shamenda know that safety was adequate at the mine? In the light of this accident resulting to the loss of life once again at this mine due to negligence of Mr Shamenda’s failure to certify that all safety measures were adequate at the mine makes his position unttainable. Mr Shamenda has failed to execute his duty with due deligence and need to be relieved of his post to enable a more capable Zambian perform the job. Zambians can not be sacrificed due to political expediency, a human beeing to be born and brought up to that age and die needlessly is painful to us all in Zambia. Let the president take a firm stand on this and those responsible bear permutive measures on them for others to take note. May Gibson RIP.
THE CHINESE HAVE SORTED SATA OUT
#23 Muna, what on earth do you do, digging coal?? Shamenda is not the labor minister, its Chi- Kabwili.
So far all the Labour Ministers and Union Leaders have been a disappointment. Kambwili pliz help us save our lives as workers we are behind you.
I really hope the picture above is not for workers at the coal mine because if that’s our people’s work gear at the Chinese mine then we are in trouble. What is the Occupational Safety & Health Organization doing letting people work in those conditions? People who live in close proximity to coal mines report higher rates of cardiopulmonary disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, diabetes, lung and kidney disease. How much more riskier would it be for someone to actually work under these conditions? What has happened to us, we can no longer control our own destiny and put things in place to help our own people work under better conditions? We are killing ourselves … May God have mercy on our souls!!!!
I wonder what kind of Govt and security we have because these are the same
chinese who shot at workers and were not punished in any way,now they are causing more harm……………….GOD HELP US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pa Zambia pa fake! What is the Ministry of Mines doing about the safety of the citizens! Who gave these fonkongs the mining licence! BOMA. So. BOMA is to blame and not the Chinese Company!
Collum coal mine again?! Give us a break and sort out this mine once and for all!
why can’t the PF gvt sort this issue at Maamba coal mine once & for all? Now we loosing lives through preventable accidents, how do you allow people to enter into a tunnel a few minutes after blasting, where are the mining regulations that these chinese *****s do not understand, re-entry time is more than one hour to allow for the dust to settle & any loose hanging rocks to fall, and the supervisor is the one who goes in first to check. This ***** supervisor knew all this that’s why he forced the Zambians to their peril………..
Get it from me fellow bloggers.Factory inspectors under labour ministry do not inspect the mines as this is the preserve of MSD under mr simusa.Labour inspectors however are mandated to enforce labour laws in the mines and not occupational safety and health issues.This mine has a very bad safety record and MSD should intensify its inspections on them otherwise too bad for the lost life.
It has been like this with these factory inspectors from ministry of labour. if you see the Yustina ginnery here in chipata, hell it,s a death trap.
What the fark are you doing there if you can not communicate. Hell send him to jail for manslaughter. BTW what are these Chinese doing in Zambia that Zambians can’t do?
What is going on at this mine kansi? Â And some pipo are saying Hon. Kambwili should go through them to go to some of these companies. Hon. Kambwili continue with the good work. Some of these labour leaders are corrupt and toothless bulldogs. You have eaten from the corrupt investors and you think the investors are more important than your fellow Zambians, This is the only country on mother earth which worships investors. and PF is going to put a stop this all this nonsense., You never say anything when Zambian workers are abused. You have become so fat from the favours you get from the infestors, even your teeth have become fat.
NOW WHERE ARE THOZ *****S WHO ARE SAYING CHISHIMBA KAMBWILI IS OVER REACTING… PLIZ KAMBWILI BRING SANITY TO THESE INDUSTRIES
Is not the same mine which has been giving us head hacks year in year out??