DIAMOND PAGE — Judge calls for charges against Rovic

A judge has recommended that two employees of Rovic Diamonds and their employer be charged with culpable homicide in connection with a mud slide that killed 20 people at a diamond mine in South Africa two years ago.

Mr. Justice Kotze, who is conducting an inquiry into the accident, found that two South African employees of Rovic, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based Botswana Diamondfields (BWD-V), were negligent.

But the judge attached no liability to Botswana Diamondfields or any of its directors, officers or employees, or to any of Rovic’s Canadian officers.

In November 1996, a sudden flow of mud into the underground workings of the Rovic diamond mine killed 19 employees and one contract worker; 34 workers were rescued.

Since the accident, Rovic has contributed $900,000 to a trust fund to help the dependents of the deceased miners.