More than 30 people were feared trapped in a mine collapse in a Zambian region known for illegal open-cast digging for copper, a minister said.
"May I just inform the nation that we have a tragedy brewing in Chingola," Home Affairs Minister Jack Mwiimbu told parliament on Friday.
"We have more than 30 people under the rubble" in a makeshift mine, he added, without giving further details.
The mines ministry made no comment saying it would make an inspection first at the site in the Chingola region, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital Lusaka.
Zambia is one of the world's largest copper producers and Chingola is in the country's copper-belt region.
The region has one of the world's largest open-cast copper mines and some of the waste hills are 100 metres (300 feet) high.
