An illegal gold miner drowned in Mutare River while fleeing from police officers on Wednesday.
The now-deceased Tinashe Dukuta, 26, was in the company of two unidentified friends while panning for gold along Mutare River when police pounced on them.
Manicaland province deputy police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Luxson Chananda confirmed the tragic incident. He said:
Police conducted a raid and the deceased and his friends escaped. They jumped into the river as an escape route.
The body was found floating in the river by one Byron Makunde, 17, of Premier Central, Penhalonga who had gone to install his water pump on Thursday morning.
He made a report at Penhalonga police station who attended the scene and ferried the body to Mutare Provincial Hospital for a postmortem.