Ajali kwenye Machimbo ya Tanzanite Mererani!!!!

Wanasema huenda watu 80 wamekufa, shauri ya hiyo ajali! Mungu alaze roho zao mahala pema peponi. AMEN.

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3-29-08 UPDATE- More than 80 feared dead in Tanzania mining accident

MIRERANI, Tanzania (AFP) — More than 80 miners are feared dead after floods swept pits in northern Tanzania on Saturday, a survivor and police said.

Rescue operations were hampered by lack of equipment at the Mirerani Tanzanite gemstone mines near the northern city of Arusha, around 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of the capital Dar es Salaam.

"It started raining at two o'clock (2300 GMT) in the morning. We struggled and I managed to get out at three o'clock," said one surviving miner, Elia Fanuel.

"I know there is no hope of finding anybody alive. We will just look for the bodies to give them a decent burial," he told AFP. It was unclear if there were more survivors.

Police said six bodies had been recovered while mine owners said there were 87 people underground when the disaster struck.

"We have so far received six bodies and we are still searching for others," said the official, who was at the scene but declined to be identified.
"The owners of the pits said 87 were underground at the time of the floods," he added.
"We have the reports of the missing miners and rescuers have been rushed to the scene," Manyara regional commissioner Henry Shekifu told AFP.

"There have been heavy rains for the last seven days in the area. Similar cases occurred in the past, but this is worse because it involves a lot of people," he added.

Miners heading back to Arusha from the Mirerani and neighbouring pits told AFP they feared their colleagues were dead.

Torrential rains hampered communications in the region as well as the rescue operation, with many vehicles involved in the effort stranded several miles from the site of the disaster.
A lack of equipment also impeded the rescue operation.

"The (search) operation will continue but mining activity has been suspended," said Khalid Mandia, the district chief.

Tanzanite, a purple-blue shimmering stone, has been found only in northern Tanzania and in 2005 a leading gemstone miner said it unearthed the world's largest tanzanite stone weighing about three kilograms (6.6 pounds).

The lure of striking riches has drawn thousands of miners to Mirerani, which resembles a gold-rush town dotted with brothels, bars and hardware stores supplying the miners.
Tanzanite is believed to be limited to east Africa's Rift Valley region and the pits where the accident happened are located in the heart of Maasai land, a short distance from Mount Kilimanjaro.

The gemstone was discovered by Maasai tribesmen in 1967.

The east African nation's mining sector has expanded rapidly over the past decade after it adopted liberal economic policies in the mid-1980s.

Tanzania is the continent's third-largest gold producer after South Africa and Ghana and is also rich in diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires.

The mining sector contributes less than three percent of the nation's GDP but the rate should reach 10 percent by 2025 according to a development plan outlined by the government.
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3-29-08 ARUSHA, Tanzania (AP) -- A government official says 75 miners are missing and believed to have died in mines following heavy rains in northeastern Tanzania.

Manyara Regional Commissioner Henry Shekifu says mine owners reported the 75 men went missing Friday as heavy rains pounded their mines in Mererani, 25 miles southeast of Arusha.
Shekifu says the government is trying to get equipment to the mines to drain the water in hopes of retrieving the men.