Four illegal miners who trespassed into the protected Marange diamond fields drowned in a dam full of slime last week following a chase by Zimbabwe Consolidate Diamond Company (ZCDC) security officers.
The four went to Marange by night to illegally mine diamonds, but their mission was interrupted by alert guards, leading to a fatal chase.
Bulawayo24 reports that ZCDC had to call the Police Sub-Aqua Unit to retrieve their bodies.
"I was briefed by my security personnel about the incident. I don't have much, but what I can tell you is that the illegal panners trespassed into the fields and they were spotted by our guards who subsequently chased them away,” ZCDC chief executive Moris Mpofu said.
“I am told that during the chase four of them fell into the dam and they drowned. You can contact the police to get more details."
He said ZCDC had beefed up security around the mining concessions.
"We have tightened our security because we want to safeguard that national resource and ensure it benefits the country and not individuals," said Mpofu.
An illegal miner was also killed in July while three others were seriously injured when security guards fired at more than 200 heavily armed illegal diamond miners who broke into ZCDC's premises.
The men who were armed with wrenches and machetes intended to pounce on the plant's main diamond sorting room.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
The four went to Marange by night to illegally mine diamonds, but their mission was interrupted by alert guards, leading to a fatal chase.
Bulawayo24 reports that ZCDC had to call the Police Sub-Aqua Unit to retrieve their bodies.
"I was briefed by my security personnel about the incident. I don't have much, but what I can tell you is that the illegal panners trespassed into the fields and they were spotted by our guards who subsequently chased them away,” ZCDC chief executive Moris Mpofu said.
“I am told that during the chase four of them fell into the dam and they drowned. You can contact the police to get more details."
He said ZCDC had beefed up security around the mining concessions.
"We have tightened our security because we want to safeguard that national resource and ensure it benefits the country and not individuals," said Mpofu.
An illegal miner was also killed in July while three others were seriously injured when security guards fired at more than 200 heavily armed illegal diamond miners who broke into ZCDC's premises.
The men who were armed with wrenches and machetes intended to pounce on the plant's main diamond sorting room.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
