NEGLIGENCE in the mining industry has caused the death of another miner when a pit collapsed on Thursday, killing 47-year-old Terrence Carlton Lobert, a father of three.The pit caved in on him and five others in the vicinity of ‘Red and White Backdam,’ Mahdia, Region 8.

Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection with responsibility for Labour Simona Broomes, upon hearing of the accident rushed to the scene.
At the time she, along with a team of labour officers,was conducting checks in Mahdia and neighbouring communities.
Loraine Orford, a cook and Dianne Ferreira, who were at the scene at the time of the disaster sat quietly in a makeshift tent a short distance from the caved-in pit, but came out to speak with Minister Broomes and team upon their arrival.
Standing at the top of the mining pit looking down, Orford recalled that she was cooking when she heard a loud noise about 10:30 hrs.
“We heard the slush coming and everybody was like ‘Oh My God, leh we hope that nothing ain’t happen to no body’,” she told Minister Broomes.
According to Orford, upon realising that the pit was caving in, the six men attempted to run for safety,but Lobert was trapped in the process. “He tried to run but the pontoon was there, so maybe he got lash backwards and the mud cover him down,” she explained.
Panic filled the air, as the owner of the small mining operation Linden Stewart reportedly stood in shock as the women screamed for help.
“Terry! Terry!” one his colleagues shouted as he took a “jetting hose” spreading the area to locate him but to no avail. In a desperate attempt to save the life of the miner who had only started working on the site four months ago, one of the miners rushed over to another mining site for an excavator.
“An excavator operating at another mining site had to come and get him out. They had to dig up the area but they got he out,” she recalled.
MINOR INJURIES
The other miners received minor injuries during the accident. According to the two women, the Mahdia Police Station and wardens were immediately informed. Lobert was subsequently taken to the Mahdia Hospital where he was pronounced Dead on Arrival. Stewart was immediately taken into custody, but was subsequently released.
Minister Broomes, who is well experienced in the gold-mining industry having been a miner, contends that based on her initial investigation, negligence was a major contributing factor to the mishap.
“This is a lot of negligence. This is a lot, a lot of negligence… they didn’t have enough space to work,” she said while looking down at the pit.
“Once you are working in a land like this you have to do major preparations. Back sand don’t hold nothing,” she lamented. The minister further pointed out that the area, which has mainly “back sand,” was worked already and is in the process of being reworked. “Because it is a worked-out area, anything could have triggered it because the sand is very, very loose… it didn’t even have to rain,” Minister Broomes said,
“Workers’ safety has to come first then the money. You cannot put money in front of workers,” she said sternly.Experienced miners who were present admitted that the minister’s observations were on point, adding that the miners were operating in a high-risk environment.
Lobert was described as a very kind-hearted individual by his colleagues. He leaves to mourn his wife and three daughters.
“You can call him about 50 times and ask him to go to the market and with a smile on his face he would go,” one of his colleagues said as she fought the tears from rolling down her face.

By Svetlana Marshall in Mahdia