The first survivor of last week’s landslide that buried dozens of miners at an open-pit copper mine in Zambia has been rescued.
The 49-year-old man was pulled out from the mine on Tuesday night and is undergoing treatment, Zambia’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit said on Wednesday.
The response team also recovered one body.
Local media outlets have reported that other dead bodies have been retrieved, but officials have not confirmed these fatalities.
The successful rescue comes just hours after Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema said he was still hopeful that the miners, who have been stuck underground since Friday, are still alive.
The accident happened at Seseli Mine in Chingola, about 400 km (250 miles) north-west of the capital Lusaka, after miners were trapped in three locations following heavy rains in the area.
“We should not yet mourn these [trapped] people because God is a God of wonders. We will find some of our people alive down here,” Mr Hichilema told a gathering of thousands of people, including families of the trapped miners in Chingola on Tuesday.
It remains unclear how many miners were trapped but Mines Minister Paul Kabuswe said on Monday that 25 families had so far come forward to claim missing relatives who were working when the accident happened.
Rescue efforts are continuing.
President Hichilema has dismissed reports that the miners were illegally working at the site, adding that his government would ensure safe mining practices to prevent future tragic accidents.
On Wednesday, the disaster management unit said at least 25 people trapped in the mine were working there without a permit.
Zambia is among the top copper producers in the world and informal mining is common in the country.