PARAMARIBO – Police said that a second person has died at the Academic Hospital in Paramaribo following the tragic incident on Sunday at the Rosebel gold mine in Brokopondo.
Media reports that several pork-knockers, who are independent, freelance gold and diamond prospectors, who work in the interior wilderness, were at a location where workers from Zijin/Rosebel Gold Mines had shortly before exposed a gold vein using explosives. The group was allegedly attempting to collect fragments of ore.
One of them died at the scene, while the other was transported to the hospital in critical condition where he later died.
The intruders were subsequently driven out by a joint task force overseeing security in the mining area. During their escape, the two young men reportedly fell from a height, with fatal consequences.
Following the incident, tensions ran high among the estimated 100 pork-knockers, but the police and military personnel managed to prevent the situation from escalating and as a precaution, the mining company was asked to move heavy equipment to a safe location.
In previous incidents in the area, the company’s machinery and vehicles were set on fire by enraged gold miners.
The authorities are continuing to monitor the situation. (CMC)
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