Five miners have died after suffocating in a mining cave in Burera District, Police have confirmed.

Dismas Rutaganira, the Northern Province regional Police chief, said the incident occurred on Tuesday at the new Bugarama Mining Company.

He said initially two miners went missing and their colleagues went searching only to suffocate from there.

The deceased were identified as Emmanuel Semirombero, 41, Jean Claude Munyembaraga, 30, JMV Nshimiyimana, 23, Peter Ryabonyende, 29, and Niyonsaba Ethiene, 20.

Their bodies were taken to Ruhengeri Hospital for autopsy before they were laid to rest.

"They (miners) were working at night, two entered the tunnel and went missing for a while. Three others entered to search for them but all suffocated in the mine,” said Rutaganira. The mine has been temporarily closed to better look for ways to extract minerals.

Police say they are going to carry out investigations to find out whether the company has all necessary equipment to operate and what led to the incident.

Charles Karekeze, one of the people who were at the site when the incident occurred, said: "We were working in a mine and we realised that one of us was missing, that is when our colleagues went in search of them but none of them returned. I suspect it was due to lack of oxygen deeper inside as we combed inside the mine for the missing fellows for a long time.” Alarming issue?

In a statement released yesterday, the State Minister in charge of Minerals, Evode Imena, warned miners against illegal mining, especially at night.

He also warned miners against mining without protective gear in order not to endanger their lives.Speaking to The New Times, Imena said that although there are no latest figures on mine tragedy victims, the issue is alarming, especially in the dry season.

"We have no latest figures of the victims but we are collecting them. However, the issue is alarming,” the minister said, adding that in July, there were three incidents in Gakenke District where one person died, while another five miners died in Ngororero District.

"These are many people in a very short period. Sometimes they go to dangerous areas where their lives are at risk and run short of oxygen,” Imena added.

The minister said sometimes illegal miners seek to get more minerals and destroy pillars inside the mines which weakens them leading to the collapse.

Imena challenged miners and mining companies’ managers to ensure that no illegal mining is done in all mines and that every company has all the required equipment and abide with laws regulating mining extraction in the country.

The ministry is working on renewal of mining regulations to ensure that the number of mine tragedy victims is minimised, he said.

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