African Eye News Service (Nelspruit)
Fanyana Mabuza
16 July 2001
Maloma, Swaziland — More than 250 workers have refused to resume duty at a coal mine in south western Swaziland after an underground explosion killed one person and left twelve seriously injured last week.
Maloma Colliery shift boss, Duma Vilakati, blamed the Thursday blast on a malfunctioning ventilator that led to a build-up of methane gas that was ignited by a spark.
The ventilator was being repaired at the time of the explosion.
"The catastrophe could have been averted had it not been for the repair of the fan, which circulates fresh air into the mine to dilute the highly inflammable methane gas," said Vilakati.
One miner was killed and 12 others rushed to Mbabane government hospital where they were admitted to the intensive care ward for burn wound treatment.
The next shift refused to go underground and demanded an investigation that has forced management to suspend operations for at least four days.
Mine management, government's department of geological survey and mines, along with Swazi police and workers representatives at the mine have set up a committee to probe the blast.
General Manager of the mine, Christo Snyman, declined to comment until the investigation had been finalised.
Workers at the mine said working conditions were not safe and related incidents from previous years, including the case of a worker whose spinal cord was damaged when a blasting session went awry. His penis later had to be amputated.
In September last year a welder died when a beam he was repairing collapsed.
The mine, which began operations in September 1993, produces high quality anthracite coal, which is exported mainly to European Union markets and the United States of America.
It is the second biggest coal mine in the kingdom after the Mpaka Coal Mine that closed down in 1994 after management cited the rise of operational expenses.
Both mines have vast coal reserves, according to geologists.
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