Two persons, a male and a female have been confirmed dead after the illegal mining pit they were working in collapsed on them at Ataase, a community near Nkonya in the Amenfi East Municipality of the Western Region.
The two were part of a group of about one hundred illegal miners who were in a pit when the incident occurred. Asonaba Banasco, an eyewitness recounted that only the two were in the open pit when it collapsed. The incident is reported to have happened on Sunday, January 15, 2024.
“The man is from the community but the lady is a stranger, they were searching for gold when the pit collapsed. Over one hundred miners were at the site, but only the two were in the pit bringing out the load. They unfortunately could not survive when the pit caved in.
Their bodies have since been retrieved and deposited at the Wassa Akropong Government Hospital for preservation and investigation”, he indicated. Pictures available show an excavator retrieving the dead bodies from the pit. Many of the miners could be seen carrying the dead bodies to a safe location.
The issue of illegal small scale mining (galamsey) continues to be a challenge as government after government has failed in the quest to stop it.