TIRANA, Sept. 2 – Two miners have died while working illegally at an abandoned chromium mine in Albania’s northern Bulqiza region, police said.
The tunnel where they were working collapsed and Miftar Losha, 54, and Albert Losha, 35, died in hospital Sunday after they were carried there with severe injuries, official said.
The mine belonged to a company that had ceased operations more than three years ago.
“The victims were working informally in an illegal mining tunnel in which operations had ceased, and they were working without technical supervision,” the Ministry of Economy said in a statement.
Chromium, mostly found in Bulqiza and its surroundings, is the most important metal exported from Albania. Following the fall of the former communist regime in 1991, the chromium was often mined illegally.
Authorities then gave extraction rights to hundreds of small companies which operate in low security conditions.
Scores of miners have lost their lives while local gangs have battled each other for control of the resources, resulting in a number of killings.
The Albanian government recently closed 62 dangerous mining areas, declaring them unusable and revoking existing licenses.
Authorities have said there are about 800 licenses in total, with many issued improperly. Many are also under investigation by tax authorities for not paying their dues.
