In the last four days, residents in the Delanta district of the mineral-rich South Wollo Zone in Ethiopia’s Amhara regional state, have been working to rescue artisanal miners trapped in a cave after it collapsed.

“We have been working on shifts, day and night... There is still a lot to dig and it doesn’t seem like we are getting any closer,” resident, Tesfaye Agazh, told the BBC. "We are hoping we will get survivors but we know it is a mere chance. We are not stopping until we find them, whether alive or dead,” Agazh added.

Agazh is one of the hundreds of villagers who have moved to the area to rescue the miners who were trying to excavate opal in the cave. But the village’s steep landscape is making it difficult to get machines to the area, and villagers — around 10 at any time — have resorted to using their hands to dig out the rocks.

According to local authorities, the status of the trapped miners is “difficult to know,” reports Addis Standard.

Ethiopia is the second largest exporter of opal in the world, but conflict has disrupted the production of the mineral in the region. Skilled manpower, legal framework, and the absence of private entities in the trade, are also some of the problems facing the opal mining industry in the region.

The artisanal miners resort to risking their lives to excavate the mineral, which they sell through local cooperatives.