The officials on Sunday confirmed that twenty-two people had been killed following a landslide at a small-scale mine in northern Tanzania.
The accident happened in Simuyu region's Bariadi district, more than 500 kilometers north of the capital, Dodoma.
Tanzania Landslide Kills 22 Miners
TOPSHOT - Two men stand on top of a bus as others gather to assess damages at a street covered on mud following landslides and flooding triggered by heavy rainfall in Katesh, Tanzania on December 5, 2023. Torrential downpours in northern Tanzania washed away vehicles and brought down buildings in the hillside town of Katesh, 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of the capital Dodoma. The death toll from landslides and flooding triggered by heavy rainfall in northern Tanzania climbed to 68 on December 4, a regional official said, as rescue workers searched for trapped survivors.
Simon Simalenga, the region's Bariadi district commissioner, reported that the accident happened early on Saturday. He said that the accident began when a group of people, ages 24 to 38, started mining in a region where activity had been restricted due to ongoing heavy rains.
Simalenga said the group found a mineral-rich location two to three weeks ago. They started mining before the government had approved physical and environmental safety protocols.
"As we close the rescue operations, the death toll remains 22, all men," Faustine Mtitu, acting commander for the region's fire and rescue force, told reporters on Sunday.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan paid tribute to the victims of the accident on Sunday. She claimed they were convinced that there were no more bodies trapped in the rubble and said that safety procedures had not been followed at the mine.
Suluhu wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the fellow Tanzanians who died were small miners in the area and were only trying to earn a living for themselves, their families and contributing to the growth of their nation.
The officials did not provide further details on the cause of the accident.
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Mining Accidents in Tanzania
According to eNCA, Tanzania is the fourth-largest African producer of gold, one of the East African nation's primary sources of foreign currency.
Mining accidents are not uncommon, as miners often lack the tools and materials considered necessary to operate safely.
In January 2017, 15 miners were saved after being stuck underground for at least two days when their temporary gold mine collapsed. Five miners were found alive after spending 41 days 100 meters underground, eating cockroaches and frogs to survive in November 2015.
The ceiling of a gold mine collapsed, burying more than 100 miners alive in the northwest Kagera region in July 1997. The miners were trapped when a shaft they were working on collapsed near the town of Shinyanga in the northwest.
The authorities suspected the congestion contributed to the collapse after scores of miners entered the pit.
Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia have all been experiencing intense rainfall due to the El Nino weather pattern.
Landslides in the northern Tanzanian town of Katesh last month have killed seventy-six people. The downpours last month also displaced 5,600 people and damaged infrastructure in many parts of the country.
Furthermore, Hassan was forced to cut short her participation in the COP28 climate talks in Dubai to deal with the disaster.
Related Article: Tanzania Floods, Landslides Kill 47, Injure Nearly 100; Death Toll Expected To Rise
