By SAM PHIRI –

TEARS have not dried for those who lost their loved ones in the recent Mopani Copper Mine (MCM) disaster that saw four miners trapped and buried alive on Sunday leaving other workers in apprehension.
Emmanuel Kyongola, Mushota Nsama, Arnold Mambwe and Abel Munthali are the victims who died at 3,240 feet below ‘in a rock fall.’
The official version naturally asserts that the disaster occurred even after all possible safety checks were done leaving many including mine safety engineers wondering what really would have gone wrong for that part of the mine to cave in.
A general assumption is that a safety greenlight would have been granted before the four went underground to meet their fate, now raising concerns on how reliable the mining safety precautions and checks really are.
However, in as much as many would assume that the safety checks were conducted, one would be inclined to think that not much was done in the preliminaries to make sure lives were safeguarded.
Considering the gravity of the whole scenario that does not clearly explain what really caused the earth collapse, many especially those tasked to retrieve the bodies are even more apprehensive.
Obviously, questions such as: “Is this part of the mine safe for any activity … will the earth  in the burrow  hold as we retrieve the bodies of our brothers or be the next victims?” arise.
Some places on the mines may be exhausted in terms of ore extraction to the extent that these have been appropriately marked as closed.
While not knowing the circumstances of the accident, one would like to know whether the copper ore blasting was taking place in a fairly new section or an old one.
Still, many who have worked on the mines know that scaling of the inner walls is a basic precautionary measure, while holding the rock crust firm is made possible by timber barricading.
Development of new copper ore deposits means drilling and blasting in a typical direction, while ensuring that the underground ‘streets’ and ‘crosscuts’ are thoroughly scaled before any works begin in a section.
While information from the depth of the mines and its authorities can be somewhat classified before the public eye, the likelihood of negligence should not be ruled out.
The most unfortunate part is that the mine accident victims will never be there to give credence to this assertion.
Mines acting Permanent Secretary Paul Chanda has described the disaster as unfortunate and that a detailed report from the mine owners Mopani on what would have caused the accident would soon be demanded.
“We first want to concentrate on retrieving the bodies of our beloved ones and accord them a dignified burial though our safety department has to remove the rubble with high precautionary measures so that we don’t lose any more lives,” he said.
Mr Chanda has used the tragic accident to remind and warn those engaged in illegal mining activities that the rubble may cave-in anytime and bury them without trace unlike licensed miners who would be protected in their work environments by safety precautions.
He has also observed that apart from illegal mining activities mushrooming countrywide, there is a dangerous practice of trading and using industrial mining explosives to blast stones at individual quarries in townships.
Today there is a lamentation of four lives that have been lost though at a registered mining firm posing a serious question yet to be answered by the mine owners on what could have caused the accident.
However, expert knowledge in mining reveals that before engaging into drilling duty, it was very much likely that the ‘crosscuts’ were not thoroughly scaled to guarantee safety of the four miners.
The preceding premise is based on the assumption that these miners were drilling but in case they were engaged in another mining operation, the issue still stands that there are precautionary measures that ought to be taken.
However, the cardinal question still remains:  What were these miners doing at the time of the accident?
This accident triggers memories of the Mufulira Mine disaster on September 25, 1970 when an underground leak of a tailings dam occurred.
A night shift crew was on duty at the tailings dam above the mine, which collapsed causing nearly a million tonnes of tailings to fill the mine killing 89 miners below as a sinkhole opened on the surface which allowed surface water to continue pouring into the mine.
Mufulira Mine started production in 1933 using a backfill and cave mining system with the latter method introduced in 1944.
As the term implies, cave mining allows extraction of copper ore from underground, hence recording the worst mine accident in the land.
Similarly, mine accidents like the one under reference (Mopani) have many possible technical reasons that might have led to their occurrence.
Findings should be critically examined to serve as data for future safety solution in the mining sector.