麻豆社

Three weeks and three days - that is how long eight mineworkers have been trapped underground in Perkoa, Burkina Faso which lies about 100km from the capital. The Canadian-owned zinc mine at Perkoa was engulfed with flash floods following heavy rain last month. The government of Burkina Faso has launched a judicial enquiry and the mine managers are for now not allowed to leave the country. Rescue workers are still trying to reach eight miners, made up of six Burkinabe, one Tanzanian and one Zambian, and their families have not given up hope that they will be found alive.

Brenda Mwamba is the wife of Nune Ndonji, the sole Zambian miner, she told Focus on Africa's Bola Mosuro that the families feel abandoned and are not being kept updated.

Photo: Zambian miner, Nune Ndonji. Courtesy of Brenda Mwamba.