Astonishing footage has emerged of a man using his bare hands to rescue nine Congolese miners #news
Channel: YoutubeNews
Date: 2023-03-29

Astonishing footage has emerged of a man using his bare hands to rescue nine Congolese miners out of a collapsed gold mine.

Crowds surrounded the steep slope collectively crying out of relief as the miners emerged out of nowhere, popping out of the mine before being sent tumbling down the sharp drop.

The viral video is a rare happy ending to an all-too-common story in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mining accidents are rife in the giant Central African country, especially at smaller, artisanal sites such as the one in South Kivu province that collapsed on Saturday following heavy rainfall.

Video footage, verified by Reuters, captured the miraculous rescue mission led by a courageous man using his bare hands to save the miners' lives.
The video begins with another man using a spade to desperately puncture an exit point in the steep cliff to allow the miners to pop out.

Almost instantly, the first miner is rescued as he flies out of the cliff and jumps to safety as tumbling rocks and rubble fall behind him.

The first successful rescue is met by collective applause and relief from shocked onlookers.

It's at this point that the hero of the Muvumboko neighbourhood races towards the hole, evading the shovel and relentlessly digging with his own hands.

His hard work soon pays off as another miner pops out, this time met with a louder response from the large crowd who cannot contain both their excitement and shock.

After the second rescue is completed, the rescuer is forced to step to the side as rocks continue to come flying down the cliff at a rate of knots.

However, it is not long before he jumps back in, risking his own safety, to save another two miners from almost certain death.

As the two-minute clip continues, another man comes flying out of the collapsed mine head first, which is met with a round of laughter as the crowd try to come to terms with what they are seeing.
Two more miners then follow as bystanders cry out in relief while the rescuer continues using his bare hands to save as many people as he can.

He is then able to rescue a further two, meaning a total of nine men were pulled out alive and well in the space of a couple of minutes.

The video finishes with hundreds descending the treacherous cliff chanting with joy after witnessing an astounding rescue.

A lack of safety procedures and proper equipment are at the root of frequent tunnel collapses at Congolese mines, in which miners are trapped underground with slim chances of survival.

Two miners died in a similar incident at a nearby informal digging site in early March. Against that backdrop, hopes were dim as rescue efforts began after Saturday's incident.

'We quickly mobilised people to clear the rubble that was blocking the entrance. It was on the morning of this Saturday... that they managed to save these nine souls,' local civil society representative Crispin Kayuka said.