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At least 14 illegal gold miners buried alive after pit collapsed on them
The 80 feet deep pit had 19 miners working in it before it collapsed. However five of the illegal miners that were trapped managed to escape by their own efforts.
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This tragic incident occurred in an old mining town of Prestea-Nsuta in the Western Region of Ghana, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of the capital, Accra..
The 80 feet deep pit had 19 miners working in it before it collapsed.
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Close to about 48 hours after the collapse of the illegal gold mine, 14 out of the 19 small-scale miners who were trapped are yet to be rescued.
Five of the illegal miners that were trapped managed to escape by their own efforts.
At least 14 people were missing and feared dead after an illegal gold mine in western Ghana in which they were working collapsed, police said on Tuesday.
“We are trying to retrieve the bodies. There were a few survivors. Those who escaped death are the eyewitnesses so they briefed us that they were coming out [of the pit] when all of a sudden they heard the noise which means the pit caved in,” that is according to local police commander Supt Atsu Dzineku.
Ghana is Africa's second largest gold producer after South Africa.
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The mining industry in Ghana involves big global players, however the activities of artisanal miners continue to pose challenges to the environment as well as and threaten the production of cocoa as the miners take over cocoa farms.
The new government in Ghana led by President Nana Akufo-Addo, who took office in January, has placed a ban on artisanal mining as a measure to clamp down on illegal operators.
In March 2017, activists launched a campaign highlighting the environmental damage it causes, from stripping forests to polluting water.
Since then, the west African nation has been working to find ways to better regulate and monitor small-scale miners.
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In 2010, at least 45 people had been killed in the collapse of a mine as it rained heavy.
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