English
Kinyarwanda
Owners and managers of mining sites have been called upon to take necessary precautions against likely disasters and to avoid employing under-aged children, which is illegal and punishable by law.
The call follows the recent separate incidents in which eight people died and six others injured partly due to landslides and weak cliffs that caved-in as they were mining.
They include a Tuesday incident in Mbarubuturo Cell of Muko sector in Musanze district where one person died and two other women injured when a cliff of a stone quarry site caved-in as they were apparently mining stones.
The rescued women were rushed to Nyakinama Health Center where they are currently receiving treatment.
Recently, three other people working for a local mining company with a French acronym, COMIKAGI died in a tunnel, apparently due to asphyxia.
Three other workers of MUNSAD Mining Company in Nyamirama were killed by a landslide.
The Northern Province spokesperson, Superintendent Christophe Semuhungu, urged those in mining sector to acquire safety gadgets such as helmets and avoid mining in dangerous site zones.
Supt. Semuhungu also asked proprietors of mining sites to insure their employees and fight the use of under-aged children in hard labour activities.
It is said that there are some mining companies that use under-aged children, especially in stone quarry and sand sites.
The public have also been called upon to desist from illegal mining, especially in sites that were closed, to avoid likely disasters and loss of lives.
