155 miners rescued in Mopani fire

 

By ALEX NJOVU

 
A TOTAL of 155 Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) employees on the Copperbelt were on Thursday night rescued from underground after a conveyor belt caught fire and polluted the air with smoke.
MCM corporate affairs manager Chuma Kabaghe said this in a statement released yesterday in Kitwe.
“On Thursday, 8th January 2009 at about 18: 30 hours, the UG8 conveyor belt underground on 2880 level caught fire. This conveyor belt which is located in a tunnel transfers ore from the Subvertical Shaft to number One Shaft.
“Since this tunnel in which the belt is located is also a fresh air intake, the smoke drifted down stream at a fast rate, affecting a total of 155 employees on different levels in the afternoon shift through smoke inhalation,” Mrs Kabaghe said.
She however said all the 155 employees who went underground on the afternoon shift were evacuated, accounted for and hospitalised for observation.
Mrs Kabaghe said only 10 of the 155 employees were now admitted to hospital for observation and that they were in a stable condition.
“Only 10 out of all the employees earlier admitted are still under observation and are in a stable condition,” she said.
Mrs Kabaghe said the rescue operations commenced after the Mopani fire crew and Mine Rescue Teams from MCM, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) and Chibuluma Mines were mobilised.
“The fire was controlled at about 02: 45 hours the following day (yesterday). However, the conveyor belt continued smouldering owing to the high temperatures within the conveyor belt tunnel. All logistics are in place to effectively extinguish the smouldering belt,” the statement reads.
The mine management thanked the rescue teams from KCM and Chibuluma Mines for their assistance in controlling the fire and rescuing the employees.
And Mine Workers Union of Zambia (MUZ) national secretary Oswell Munyenyembe has commended management for the manner in which it handled the problem.
“We sympathise with the workers and we wish them a quick recovery. We thank God very much that no life has been lost in this accident,” he said.
Mr Munyenyembe said the incident had happened at a time when government and the unions, including other stakeholders, were working hard to address the economic recession that had affected the mining sector.
Mr Munyenyembe said MUZ officials were happy that MCM management had responded quickly and evacuated the workers from underground.
He said the union would work closely with management to establish the cause of the fire.
Mr Munyenyembe encouraged management to continue working with the unions in finding solutions to problems affecting the mining sector in the country.