A miner survives on urine for eight days underground.
- Chipo Basira
- 13 May, 2026
A miner survives on urine for eight days underground.
A 23-year-old miner survived eight days trapped underground after a tunnel collapse at Guernsey Gold Mine, saying he drank urine to stay alive while his colleague died beside him.
Pardon Ruvengo, an employee at the mine, was discharged from a private hospital on Monday after spending three days under medical care.
He was rescued alive following the collapse, which also killed 21-year-old Innocent Mhere.
Ruvengo told reporters he lost all sense of time in the collapsed shaft and could not distinguish day from night.
With no food or clean water, he and Mhere resorted to collecting urine in a small container and drinking it to survive. He said Mhere died before help arrived.
“I watched my friend lose his life beside me,” Ruvengo said. “At some point, I was about to feed on my feces to survive.”
Ruvengo’s younger brother, 18-year-old Kudakwashe Junior, escaped the collapse and alerted the family.
The teenager had joined his brother at the mine to raise money for further education after passing his Ordinary Level exams.
Hospital staff said Ruvengo was in stable condition at discharge. One nurse described his survival as “a miracle.”
Back in Munorwei Village under Chief Bota in Zaka, villagers gathered at the Ruvengo homestead after hearing he was alive.
“Everyone at the village is yet to believe that Pardon is alive,” said his father, 47-year-old Kudakwashe Ruvengo.
. He said Pardon’s mother regained strength after speaking to her son during his resuscitation.
Ruvengo, the first son in a family of five and a member of ZCC Mbungo Church, said he does not intend to return to mining.
He plans to obtain a driver’s licence and train to operate earth-moving machinery.
“I want to thank God, my colleagues, friends, relatives, and the staff at Pacific 24-Hour Hospital for being used by the Creator for my survival,” he said.
He left Harare on Monday with his father for Zaka, where villagers were still waiting for his return.
Leave a Reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Search
Category
