Five Tanzanians died when a mine they were digging illegally collapsed, a regional official said yesterday. The accident happened on Tuesday night in Ruvuma region in the southern highlands of Tanzania. The area is rich in precious stones including garnets and sapphires.

“The miners decided to mine in someone else’s mine, unfortunately, it collapsed and three died there and then,” regional commissioner Said Kalembo said. “Another one died on the way to hospital and a fifth died yesterday.”

The mine belongs to World Gemstones, jointly owned by a Tanzanian and an Australian business partner, the commissioner said. “Stealing from other people’s mines is a rampant problem here,” he said. “The artisinal miners are not interested in getting their own mines because the equipment is too expensive.”

Dozens of people have died or been injured in small mines in Tanzania in recent years, working long hours in narrow and unventilated tunnels.