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Maputo - Mozambique police said Thursday at least a dozen people were trapped underground after an illegal mine collapsed in the northern district of Memba, killing five miners.
"Five people have died and so far 20 people have been rescued," said police spokesperson for the Nampula province, Miguel Bartolomeu.
An estimated 40 illegal gold miners were believed to have been in a 12m deep opencast mine when it collapsed in the district of Memba near the border with Tanzania.
Rescue
"They have been underground for three days and we do not know if they are alive," Bartolomeu said.
The rescue effort had been conducted in an "archaic fashion" without the basic equipment needed for the operation according to a local newspaper, O Pais.
Provincial authorities had sent fire-fighters and police to aid in the rescue effort.
Illegal miners, known in Mozambique as "garimpeiros," had begun flocking to Memba after gold was discovered there six weeks ago.
Besides vast coal and natural gas deposits, the sub-Saharan African country also has mineral deposits including gold, diamonds, titanium and precious stones.
