6 from same family killed in Zambian copper mine accident

By James Kunda

LUSAKA, Zambia (AA) - Six members of a Zambian family were killed when a copper mine carved in north of capital Lusaka on Wednesday morning, police said.

The six were among eight miners killed while illegally extracting ore from COP-5 dump site at Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in Chingola, a municipality of the Copperbelt province, north of Lusaka.

KCM is a Zambian subsidiary of global mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources.

"While they were working, the earth collapsed on them and buried them alive in the early hours of the day. Those who managed to escape attempted to rescue their friends but they had died by the time they were retrieved," police commissioner for Copperbelt Peacewell Mweemba said in a statement, adding that one more body was yet to be retrieved.

This is the second major accident of similar nature the mineral rich southern African nation has recorded this month after another 10 died when a quarry collapsed on Oct. 7. The incident happened in Mumbwa District, approximately 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of Lusaka, where the debris covered an undisclosed number of people.