Gold panners swept by floods while parked on river bank

AN illegal gold panner was found dead while his colleague is missing after they parked their vehicles on the banks of Mazowe River in-PFungwe before they were swept away by floods.

Police in Mutawatawa managed to retrieve the body of Norman Nyamunda (42) while Keith Tigere (23) is still missing despite efforts by the sub-aqua-unit to locate him.

Mashonaland East provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tendai Mwanza could not be reached for a comment as he is reportedly attending a meeting in Harare.

According to a memo seen by this paper, it is reported that on December 4, at around midnight, Tigere and Nyamunda were asleep in their vehicles parked along the banks of Mazowe River in Zengeza area, under Chief Chitsungo when incessant rains hit the area.

It is reported that the duo were awakened by the flooding river, before Tigere tried to drive his vehicle a Toyota Noah away from the banks but was swept away.

Nyamunda reportedly tried to rescue his vehicle and a water pump before he was swept by the floods as well.

The matter was reported at ZRP Mutawatawa who retrieved the body of Nyamunda about 100m away from the scene while his Toyota Corolla was found downstream.

On December 7, the ZRP Sub Aqua unit began a search for the missing Tigere and managed to discover his vehicle buried under the sand while his body was nowhere to be found.

Some well-wishers tried to pull out the Toyota Noah vehicle using an excavator but was dismantled in the process to due to sand inside.