Galamsey pit ‘swallows’ six miners

Six miners died after a galamsey pit collapsed on them at Kyekyewere in the Asante Akyem Central municipality in the Ashanti Region on Monday.

The names of the deceased have been given by the police as Kamara, 40, Mamuda, 32, Iddrisu Abdulai, 30, Mamam Oje , 25, Obuor , 35, and Shamo whose age was not given.

Three miners who survived the incident have been identified as Michael Owusu Afriyie, 37, Amuda Yusif, 28 and Sulemana Abu, 30.

Two of them have been treated and discharged from the Konongo Odumasi Government Hospital, while Abu is still receiving treatment.

A fourth person known only as Obeng escaped from the pit unhurt.

The miners were prospecting for gold at a concession belonging to the Oweriman Mining Company, a local mining with firm when the pit caved in.

Prosecution

According to the police, they were considering possible prosecution of the survivors.

Police sources told the Daily Graphic, during a visit to the site yesterday, that the “four will surely be put before court but that will be contingent on how quickly the last person recovers.”

The deceased have been deposited at First Class Mortuary at Yakwei.

They were said to have been trapped around 10 a.m. last Monday after a blast into the eight-metre deep pit, which collapsed on them. But it was not until around 1 pm that the municipal police were informed.

Police have temporarily cordoned off the place to prevent further intrusion likely to affect investigations.

Minister

The Ashanti Regional Minister,  mr Samuel Sarpong, who led a team of journalists to the site yesterday, urged the owners of the site, Oweriman Mining Company, to work in collaboration with the Asante Akyem Municipal Security Council to protect the site.

He charged the municipal security council to work hand-in-hand with the company to flush out all galamsey miners in the area.