Maputo — Seven illegal miners died on Wednesday when a tantalite mine collapsed in the central Mozambican province of Zambezia, according to a report in Friday's issue of the independent newsheet "Mediafax".

Among the dead was a 12 month old child, strapped to her mother's back, as she dug away in the depths of the mine.

Four other people were seriously injured in the disaster, which occurred in Namagoa, about 12 kilometres from the town of Mocuba.

The mine once belonged to the company RT-Recursos de Tantalite Lda, one of whose shareholders is former defence minister Tobias Dai. The company, which also includes South African shareholders, operated the mine for five years - but this year it did not renew its licence.

It seems that RT has abandoned the mine - and so made no attempt to stop local people, some of them former employees of RT, from invading the mine. When the accident occurred, there were dozens of illegal miners at work, at depths of 15 metres.

The miners justify their illegal and dangerous activity on the grounds that no other jobs are available. Marques Joaquim, uncle of one of the dead, told the paper "if the Mocuba district government doesn't give people jobs, deaths will continue to happen, because people will continue going into that mine".