The Disujin River Valley is the area with the highest concentration of Chinese businessmen entering Akwa to mine placer gold. However, in addition, there are also many Chinese businessmen involved in the local gold mining industry in other areas of Mangba, and there are even two companies with Xinhai Gold and Yibo
Just like the ancient mining industry, they directly invested 10 to 20 million US dollars in rock gold mining. There are serious companies operating in the country, and their net worth is much richer than that of Xie Sipeng and Xu Sheng.
As long as there was no disaster this time, it was relatively early to enter Akwa. Thanks to the sharp increase in the international gold price last year, everything was very profitable.
Of course, even in the Disujin Valley area, there are many gold miners who are very vigilant. They have already invested more money in the infrastructure of the operation area and camp, and they are also particular about the location selection. This time the losses are very large.
Limited; even if part of the camp was flooded, they were able to evacuate personnel and equipment to a safe area in time - these people are still staying near their respective mines, handling follow-up matters, and directly organizing manpower to participate
rescue.
Xie Sipeng contacted several representatives and asked them to come to the Fanie River mining area to discuss the matter.
Xu Sheng not only invested all his personal wealth in Disujin Valley, but also lent an additional 20 million to Xie Sipeng at the beginning of the year in order to take over Xie Sipeng's business in Disujin Valley.
Xu Sheng's loss this time can be said to be as tragic as losing his entire family, and he was completely devastated.
After seeing Cao Mo and Xie Sipeng, Xu Sheng didn't say a few words, but Xu Ling, who was young and frivolous before and disliked Cao Mo, has matured a lot in Africa in the past few years, running back and forth to cooperate with Xiao Jun and Zhao Xinjin.
Make things happen.
Xie Sipeng joined Yibogu Mining, but he certainly couldn't bring Zhang Min with him.
Xie Sipeng originally thought of letting Zhang Min take charge of his investment in China Mall, or directly join the Palm e-commerce network, but Zhang Min followed Xie Sipeng around these years, mainly doing gold store business and placer gold mining, and she later
His younger brother, who had not found a good job after graduating from high school, was sent to Africa to help Xie Sipeng manage the gold mine, but he was unwilling to take over the affairs of Hua Shang City.
Xie Sipeng gave Zhang Min his gold shop, a placer gold farm, two excavators and other facilities in Mangba, which was regarded as an explanation for Zhang Min's dealings with him over the years.
When the barrier lake burst, Zhang Minren was in her gold shop in Mangba City, but her brother and two relatives were on the list of more than 70 missing people because they were responsible for the operation of the placer gold mine. They were all missing by noon.
Couldn't get in touch.
Zhang Min hurried to Fanie River Mining Area to meet Xie Sipeng and Cao Mo. She did not want to stay in the mine to wait for news, and insisted on following the second batch of rescue teams back to the Disujin Valley. Xie Sipeng's persuasion was of no use.
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At three o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Min finally found her brother and evacuated to the Fanie River mining area. However, one of her cousins was unfortunately washed away by the flood. It was only at two o'clock in the afternoon that the rescue team's assault boat was exported from the lower reaches of the Disujin River.
Bodies were recovered outside.
At this time, the number of corpses of Chinese employees temporarily transported to the Fanie River mining area increased to sixteen.
In addition to the people who have been contacted one after another, there are still seven Chinese employees who have lost contact. They sent people to search for the mountains and woods near the mine, but no trace was found. It should be more dangerous than the other, which made everyone feel worried.
A shadow.
Whether you go to Africa to work on projects or invest in mining, you encounter vicious cases such as robberies and shootings, or work-related accidents. These are common occurrences in recent years, but it has never happened before that so many Chinese employees and Chinese businessmen were killed or injured in one place.
things.
The casualties among local employees were even more severe, with more than 90 bodies recovered from the coast.
Since it is temporarily impossible to send enough manpower to contact all local tribes, there are currently more than 400 local employees who have not been able to contact. It is not clear how many local employees have returned to the tribe on their own and how many more
The bodies of the people were washed downstream and were not found.
Although the local economy is lagging behind and the people are indifferent to life and death, the casualties are so heavy and shocking. How can we expect the local government to pretend that nothing has happened?
Zhang Min hurried back to the mine and saw the corpses of his relatives soaked in the flood and turned white. His face was also pale. When Xie Sipeng came over, he asked in a daze: "When I came back, I asked someone about the crematorium in Mangba."
What should I do if I don’t provide services to foreigners? How can I explain to my aunt?”
"We have discussed it and will send it to Peimei Port early tomorrow morning. We will also raise some money first and arrange for family members to come over to handle the funeral arrangements; the embassy will help simplify the visa procedures-" Xie Sipeng patted Zhang Min on the shoulder.
, comforted her and said, "You should take a rest first. Someone will handle the remaining matters here."
Zhang Min shook his head, cheered up and said, "I'm fine."
At this time, Cao Mo rushed back from outside in a car and saw Stari and Zhou Han in hunting attire following Cao Mo. Xie Sipeng walked over and said:
"Counsellor Dong and Mr. Zhao just gathered more than a dozen representatives for a small meeting. Everyone agreed to raise a sum of money first and try their best to bring the family members of the deceased to Akwa to handle the funeral arrangements. Because there were victims in the mine.
, the losses were very heavy, and many people still owed a lot of debt, so regarding the consolation money, everyone was basically willing to donate, trying to collect a total of 100,000 in consolation money for each person. We all have the friendship of fellow villagers, and we have
Some of them were reluctant, but even after a few words they accepted it. Even if the local employees were killed or injured, no one felt they had anything to do with it..."
The losses in the mines that were destroyed by the flood were so severe that they could not even afford to compensate the Chinese employees who died. However, the bosses and investors of other mines were willing to sacrifice money to help the families of the Chinese employees who died to deal with the funeral arrangements.
Agreeing to donate an additional condolence payment is already righteous enough.
The local employees who died must be compensated. That is also the responsibility of the mine owners who directly employed them. Others do not have this moral obligation.
Let’s get back to the point. A local employee died in the mine, and the losses were extremely heavy. Where can we find the money to compensate the local employees who died?
Cao Mo frowned slightly.
Stari remained silent, and Zhou Han asked: "Dong Jianwei is not here at the embassy, and no one else is here?"
"I think the embassy still hopes that everyone can donate more money and take care of the local employees who have died. But the problem goes back to the knot mentioned just now - those who should contribute money will suffer heavy losses and may not even have a plane ticket home.
Even though they couldn't make up enough, some people failed to make a fortune and were still in debt; they had nothing to lose, and they didn't have the moral sense to do so. The embassy couldn't force everyone, and even had to avoid this sensitive issue, so Dong Jianwei was always here.
After communicating with everyone, I haven’t heard that anyone else is coming,” Xie Sipeng said with a frown, “If it drags on for another day or two, I think the embassy might ask the country for instructions... However, if this matter is handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
It is not necessarily a good thing for the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation to communicate directly with the Akwa authorities."
The resources that the embassy can directly use are very limited. When encountering problems that cannot be solved, it can only ask for instructions from the country. But when the time comes, the country will communicate directly with the Akwa authorities, and the matter will be easily politicized.
Xie Sipeng also knows very well that the sand mining in the Mangba area has been too disorderly in recent years. Once it becomes politicized, public opinion in Akwa and local people's sentiments will not be favorable to them.
"I heard from Xiao Jun that many foreign reporters came to Mangba?" Xie Sipeng asked, changing the subject.
"It's several reporters from the Associated Press and BBC. They have already arrived in Mamba City. We just met with the local press officer Starry and persuaded them to help delay for a while to prevent reporters from entering prematurely.
The disaster site, but we must compensate the local workers who died - and now we must arrange for the owners of the mines whose local workers died to go directly to the tribe to talk to show our sincerity,"
Cao Mo pondered for a while and then said,
"Of course, as you said, the mines where local employees died have suffered heavy losses, and you may not have the energy to talk about it. There are even three mine owners who are missing and have not been found. It is necessary now
Let Zhao Xinquan, on behalf of Xinhai Gold, take the lead in establishing the Mangba Chinese Merchants Mining Mutual Aid Association. There is no need to make the name too big for the time being. Let’s organize the Chinese businessmen who invest in mining in Mangba and let everyone take the lead immediately in the name of the mutual aid association.
A translator will accompany the mine owner or directly come forward on behalf of the mine owner to resolve these matters..."
"How to solve the problem of funds?" Xie Sipeng asked.
"Others, no matter how much they have, need to donate a little. Who can give a damn about this? Please get out of here immediately - Ibogu Mining will not be directly involved this time, but if there is any shortfall, I will personally contribute four million."
US dollar emergency. Please remember to be tougher later and make it clear to everyone that if you still want to stay in Akwa and develop, the standards should be appropriately lower than those of Chinese employees, but you must not forget about local employees - of course, China
The consolation payment of 100,000 yuan per employee is still too little. Workers who go abroad to earn a living have a hard time at home. Each employee is guaranteed to have a consolation payment of 300,000 yuan. Those who do not want to develop in Akwa will suffer losses.
For serious investors, we should not be stingy with the money for a few air tickets. We should help them get back, and there is no need to worry about the rest. As for those who want to stay in Akwa and make a comeback, they should wait until they are busy.
During this time, let’s get together and think of a solution,” Cao Mo, Xie Sipeng, Zhang Min and the others said, “If you think about it again, is there anything else that is not comprehensive?”
In the public mind of Akwa, Ibogu Mining is an international mining company that emerged from Kanem. Cao Mo is not afraid of trouble, but at this stage he still wants to minimize trouble as much as possible, and this time he only plans to use
Donate three to four million US dollars in your own name to solve the problem.
He personally doesn't even want to come forward. It would be more logical for the embassy and people engaged in mining investment in Mangba to come forward to resolve the matter as much as possible.
They discussed it for a while, then ran over to the embassy counselor Dong Jianwei and Zhao Xinquan to explain their intention.
Previously, Zhao Xinjin asked Zhou Shenhe for instructions, and on behalf of Xinhai Gold Industry, he offered to donate US$300,000. Xie Sipeng personally lost US$200,000, and with the addition of others, he could barely collect US$800,000——
Xie Sipeng called everyone together again and made it clear that the first step was to collect a donation of four million US dollars. Everyone would pledge first, and Cao Mo would personally be responsible for adding the remaining amount.
After all, there were still many people who valued fellow countrymen and took the overall situation into consideration. Even though they were not as wealthy as Cao Mo, they finally chipped in more than 400,000 US dollars; Cao Mo personally pledged more than 2.7 million US dollars.
With enough donations, other matters can be easily solved. It has been initially decided that all local workers who died in the accident will be given an initial compensation of 50 million US dollars each. Along the Disujin River, there are placer gold fields contracted and those affected by floods.
Tribes, each tribe will send a condolence payment of US$10,000.
With enough funds, everyone is willing to set up a mutual aid association, and they are not afraid of hard work. Now, on behalf of the mutual aid association, they will help severely damaged mine owners go directly to the tribes to resolve their funeral arrangements - they are not afraid to come to Africa to eat a bowl of rice.
Hard.
This time the report was sent to the embassy, and the ambassador went directly to meet with the Akwa Disaster Relief and Emergency Minister that night. In short, the casualties were so heavy, and Chinese investors were also victims, but they were also willing to compensate the local employees who died. It was a responsible performance - the embassy also
He promised to raise some funds from other Chinese businessmen in Akwa to donate to Mamba's education, culture and other undertakings.
Although there were people taking care of everything, Cao Mo did not dare to leave easily until the matter was completely resolved.
There were too many people evacuating to the mining area, and Xinhai Gold could not squeeze out too many empty rooms. Cao Mo, Zhou Han, and Stari spent the night together in the car.
When Cao Mo was pushed awake by Xiao Jun opening the car door, he saw that the sun had already risen above the treetops. He took out his mobile phone and looked at the time to see that it was already past eight o'clock in the morning.
"You are all back. Every tribe has run away. The Associated Press and BBC reporters are still in Mangba City, or have they already gone down. Have you sent anyone to keep an eye on them?" Cao Mo asked.
"There's nothing going on here. We ran all night," Xiao Jun said. "We just listened to the radio. There was a major earthquake in China. It was eight on the Richter scale?"
"Ah?" Cao Mo was startled. He remembered that the Tangshan earthquake only had a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, so he opened his mouth and asked, "Where?"
"Sichuan..."
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When the major earthquake occurred, it was around 2:30 pm in China.
Cao Mo didn't bother to wash his face. He walked to the employee activity room of the mining area with Zhou Han and Xiao Jun. The satellite TV was crowded with people. The Central International Channel was playing aerial images of the earthquake-stricken area. There were collapsed buildings and houses everywhere.
It's like the end of the world.
Since the epicenter of the earthquake was located in a mountainous area, large areas of hillsides and hills were collapsed and almost all roads were blocked. The nearby armed police and military could only rescue nearby disaster-stricken areas first.
In the epicenter area that was the most severely affected, effective communications were also cut off by the earthquake. Currently, only aerial images have been transmitted, but just from the aerial images, it can be seen that the casualties of this earthquake will be beyond imagination.
Many people had just experienced a near-death escape the night before yesterday, and they were shocked when they saw this scene on satellite TV.
Cao Mo talked on the phone with Song Yuqing and Cheng Xi. Xinhai felt the obvious earthquake, but at this time the communication in the epicenter area had been interrupted. Song Yuqing, Cheng Xi and the others did not know any more news in Xinhai than they did in Africa.
.
The disaster response here cannot stop. Cao Mo followed the rescue team deep into the disaster area in the morning.
At this time, the water receded, and the large and small beaches in the Disujin River Valley came out of the water again. They were in a mess, and there were many excavators soaked in the river.
Fortunately, floods occur frequently in the Disujin River Valley, and the settlements of tribes on both sides of the river are relatively high. Except for their fields, no tribe has been inundated by floods.
The main reason is that the gold prospectors who entered the Disujin River Valley to mine placer gold were too eager for quick success, and half of them set up their working areas and camps on the low-lying river flats. They all encountered disaster this time.
When reporters from the BBC, the Associated Press and other international media based in Akwa entered the disaster area, all compensation had been negotiated, especially the tribes that contracted the placer gold fields. Therefore, when these international media reporters interviewed, even if they brought
Even though they asked very directional questions, they didn't get the answers they wanted.
Subsequent reports published by local media in Mangba and Northwestern Province emphasized that this was an unpredictable and tragic disaster. Chinese investors, employees and local employees all suffered heavy losses; however, the Chinese Business Mutual Aid Association in Mangba showed great
Touching humanitarian spirit.
Cao Mo returned to the Fanie River Mining Area near dusk. It was just after ten o'clock at night in China. He saw on the news that the road leading to the epicenter was completely destroyed by the earthquake, and the military and police could only go to the epicenter area on foot.
The Air Force was also preparing to send airborne troops directly into the epicenter of the worst disaster. However, after the earthquake, the weather changes became extremely extreme and the epicenter terrain was extremely complex. Cao Mo and the others stayed in front of the satellite TV until twelve o'clock in the morning, and the airborne troops did not
Find an opportunity to go directly to the epicenter...