Seventeen people were underground when the ground gave way at a gold mine in Mwakitolyo Village, in Tanzania’s Shinyanga Region. Eleven came out alive. Six did not.
Shinyanga Regional Commissioner Anamringi Macha, who visited the site, said the cave-in happened on Saturday evening, May 17. Rescue work ran into the next day and ended on Sunday afternoon, May 18.
“A total of 17 individuals were involved in the incident. We successfully rescued eleven, while six were unfortunately found dead,” said Assistant Superintendent Thomas Majuto, the acting regional commander of the Fire and Rescue Force, at a press briefing.
Miners missing from the logbook
Early findings put about 20 people at the mine when the section collapsed. Many of the victims did not appear in the official miners’ logbook. Majuto said they were unauthorised miners, the kind who slip into licensed areas at night to hunt for gold-bearing rock and skip the sign-in and safety checks.
“They access mining zones without permission, typically during night hours,” he said. “That’s why their names were missing from the registry.”
Macha said the mine belongs to the Hapa Kazi Tu group, and that the miners who were hurt or killed were working there illegally. “This tragedy could have been avoided,” he said. “It’s a wake-up call for stronger regulatory enforcement and cooperation between miners and government officials.”
Majuto made a plainer appeal. “Let us not allow the chase for money to endanger human lives,” he said, urging people to report risky zones to mining supervisors or government agencies. “No one’s life is worth losing over unauthorized digging.”
Tanzania is one of Africa’s largest gold producers, and mining is a major part of its economy. Accidents like this one bring attention to informal, small-scale digging, where thin training and weak enforcement can turn deadly.
Investigations are continuing. The Ministry of Minerals is expected to publish an official report, and local authorities are asking all miners, small-scale operators included, to follow the rules.
