Business mogul Harpal Randhawa, who had vast gold, diamonds and coal mining interests in Zimbabwe, has died with his son in a fatal small plane crash which killed all six occupants onboard on Friday.
Randhawa died in a Cessna 206 plane operated by diamond mine RioZim when it crashed in the Zvamahande area of Mashava in Masvingo province.
This is RioZim’s second plane crash in just eight months following a previous accident in February after it landed at a field near Beatrice heading to Harare.
In the latest accident, the plane which shattered on impact had taken off from Harare was headed to Murowa Diamonds Mine in Zvishavane.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash which happened around 7am.
National police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said emergency services were deployed and air crash investigators were also at the scene.
Five people were hurt when a Piper 31 Navajo plane made an emergency landing in a field close to Beatrice in February.
The aircraft was transporting diamonds to Harare.
Due to security concerns, large mining corporations prefer to fly high-value minerals to their safe facilities in Harare.
However, many of the small aircraft that can land and take off from these mines are outdated and prone to technical problems.
