Since April 16, eight miners have been stuck several hundred meters underground in the Perkoa zinc mine in Burkina Faso. Rescuers are still hoping for a miracle.
The six Burkinabè, a Zambian and a Tanzanian were missing following a flood caused by torrential rains, according to the Canadian company Trevali Mining which operates the mine.
“The hope we have is that it is confirmed that the ventilation gauge in the refuge room is still functional,” Burkinabe government spokesman Lionel Bilgo said on Friday.
“We are hanging on to that” and “hope that in the days or hours to come we will have good news from Perkoa”, he added.
A “chamber of refuge” at the heart of rescue operations
This “chamber of refuge” is located 580 meters underground and is equipped with survival kits. Rescuers hope that the miners, who were working at a depth of 700 meters, were able to access it.
Technicians are pumping out the water, but their work has been complicated by regular equipment breakdowns.
Operations have kicked into high gear with the installation of two additional, more efficient pumps supplied by Ghana, the government information service said on Sunday.
If hope remains, “time is against us”, indicated the spokesperson for the Burkinabè government.