Image: Getty

Faizel Patel – 26/11/2020

(Twitter: @FaizelPatel143)

At least 40 informal miners in Zimbabwe have been trapped underground after a shaft in a disused gold mine collapsed.

Head of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation says the incident occurred late Wednesday in the town of Bindura, around 70 kilometres north of the capital Harare.

Spokesperson Wellington Takavarasha told AFP the miners were working inside the disused Ran Gold Mine when a shaft caved in.

Takavarasha says six miners have since been pulled from the rubble and taken to hospital.

“Those who were rescued said there were about 40 people in the mine shaft at the time of the incident,” said Takavarasha, adding that rescue efforts were ongoing.”

Mining is a major source of foreign currency for Zimbabwe, where gold alone accounts for 60% of exports.