Flooded wolframite mine in Kigali kills seven miners
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on KT Press
Seven miners died after underground galleries flooded at a wolframite mine operated by Calliane Mines Ltd in Mageragere, in the district of Nyarugenge in Kigali. Rescuers recovered all seven bodies, and local authorities announced that burials were under way, according to KT Press.
Seven miners died after underground galleries flooded at a Calliane Mines Ltd extraction site in the Mageragere sector, Nyarugenge district, in Kigali, on Thursday 5 November. The water rushed in around 4 pm, catching the workers underground by surprise, according to accounts from workers at the site reported by KT Press.
About 200 people were at the site at the time of the accident. Some managed to escape; the bodies of the seven victims were recovered in an operation carried out with local authorities and security services. Nyarugenge district officials visited the site on Friday and confirmed to residents that all seven bodies had been found; funerals were being prepared.
The cause of the flooding was not officially established on Friday. Miners suspect that excavation work pierced an underground water source connected to the nearby Nyabarongo river, and that the water hit electrical installations at the site, without independent confirmation.
Calliane Mines Ltd operates a 400-hectare concession in Mageragere, with two active sites, where it extracts the "3Ts": cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore) and coltan. Its owner, Rubazinda Callixte, is said to have been held for some time at Mageragere prison.
