A group of artisanal miners sustained life-threatening injuries when they were attacked by a machete gang while working at a gold mine in Ntabazinduna on Thursday.
The machete gang pounced on Komoros mine on Thursday evening and attacked about five miners who were loading gold ore into sacks.
They had managed to fill up 60 cement bags.
They attacked the miners with machetes and axes before stealing the gold ore and disappearing into the night.
One of the victims only identified as Lamulani from Tsholotsho reportedly sustained serious head injuries and was rushed to Bulawayo for treatment at one of the hospitals.
The incident was reported at the Ntabazinduna police station.
Another victim who spoke to CITE said they had been working at the mine since January and they had never encountered such an incident before.
“We were loading gold ore into cement bags when the gang descended on us. They attacked us with machetes and axes. One of our guys, Lamulani was struck with an axe on the nose and we heard he was rushed to Bulawayo as he was in a serious condition,” said the miner.
“While we were trying to defend ourselves a lorry arrived and they took all our gold ore. Such incidents are common in the area. Just last week some other artisanal miners were attacked.”
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Glory Banda said he was out of office when sought for a comment.
