Eight illegal miners die trapped in mining pit in Ayanfuri

At least eight people have been confirmed dead following the collapse of a mining pit in Ayanfuri in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region.

The eight illegal small-scale miners, who were all between the ages of 24 and 35, were trapped at the Face 4 mining site.

A rescue attempt by the police and officers of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) was unsuccessful and the eight were all pulled out dead.

Their bodies have since been deposited at the Dunkwa District Government Hospital for preservation, identification and autopsy.

Sergeant Isaac Evans Ettie, the deputy public relations officer for the Central Region, confirmed the deaths to Asaase Radio’s Nana Baah Achamfour.

Caved in

It is about the fourth time this year such an incident has occurred in Ghana.

Five people were confirmed dead on 2 October at Ayanfuri-Gyaaman, another community in the Upper Denkyira West District, following the collapse of the gold mining pit.

Fifteen others who were also prospecting in the pit sustained various degrees of injury following the incident.

On Sunday (27 September) five people died after an illegal mining (galamsey) pit collapsed on them in the Adumbanso Lower Electoral Area, a farming community in the Wassa East District of the Western Region.

Two people died in a similar incident on 6 August as a galamsey pit collapsed at Mpatuam Bontefufuo in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region.

That incident occurred around 8pm as a group of illegal miners prospected for gold on site. The pit caved in. Dozens of miners fled for safety but the two men were caught.

Listen to Sergeant Ettie confirming the incident to Nana Baah Acheamfour.

Kwaku Baah-Acheamfour and Fred Dzakpata

* Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online
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