Two more bodies of miners from a flooded mine in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province were retrieved Saturday as rescue efforts entered an eighth day.
“We would like to inform the nation that two more dead bodies have been retrieved this afternoon bringing the total number of the retrieved people to seven, six dead bodies and one alive and out of danger. One dead body has been identified while three are yet to be identified,” Copperbelt Minister Elisha Matambo said in a statement.
Matambo urged relatives to come forward to make identifications.
He expressed hope that the 29 remaining miners would be brought out as soon as possible and emphasized that rescue efforts had been heightened.
The 36 miners were trapped after the slug copper dumpsite collapsed due to heavy rain Dec. 1.
Rescue efforts have since continued.