Mining Executives Sentenced Over Burkinabè Disaster

A court in Burkina Faso has found two mining executives guilty of involuntary manslaughter following the death of eight miners in April at a flooded zinc mine in the west of the country.

The director of the Canadian-owned Perkoa zinc mine, Hein Frey who is a South African, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to a 24 months suspended imprisonment and a fine of $3,000 (£2,600).

The miners were trapped after flood waters engulfed the mine after unexpected torrential rains.

The victims included six Burkinabès, a Zambian and a Tanzanian.

A 24-hour-a-day search and rescue mission had been set up to try and rescue the miners, who had been working at a depth of more than 500m.

The flooding of the mine caused outrage in the country.

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