Rescue workers are racing against time at an open pit mine in northern Zambia where more than 30 people were buried alive after a landslide triggered by heavy rains ten days ago.

So far, 11 dead have been recovered, nine of whom were buried today. “We will continue the search” for the missing, assured President Hakaide Hisilema who attended the mass funeral.

Last Tuesday, a 49-year-old man was pulled out alive, five days after the deadly landslide. Since then, however, rescue teams have only recovered bodies from the illegal mine in the Tsingola district, which is 400 kilometers north of the capital Lusaka.

In copper-rich Zambia, accidents at unlicensed open-pit mines that do not meet safety regulations are frequent.

In 2018, ten people were killed when a mine collapsed in Kitwe district. A few kilometers away, in Tsambisi, 46 workers lost their lives in 2004 due to an explosion in a mine.