'Galamsey' pit collapse, two dead

Two illegal gold miners were killed after a mining pit collapsed on them at Patriensa, near

Konongo in the Asante-Akim Central Municipality.Their bodies had been recovered and they were identified as Malam Yielpi and Mohammed.

Two other miners, Alhassan Fuseini and Abdulai Mohammed, however, survived the accident and are receiving treatment at the Stewards hospital at Yawkei for the injuries they suffered.

Mr. Isaac Kyei Andoh, the Municipal Director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Patriensa.

He said the incident happened at about 0200 hours on Monday and that this was reported to his office about three-and-a-half hours after the pit had collapsed. They quickly moved a rescue team to the scene and managed to pull the lifeless bodies and the pair, who survived from the rubble.

The rescue team made up of officials from NADMO, the police and Ghana National Fire Service, was continuing to search through the tons of earth and rocks to make sure that there was no other person dead or alive left in the pit.

They had arranged for an excavator to assist to the search and rescue operation.

Patriensa is one of the few mining communities in the municipality where illegal mining is reported to have been going on despite the government’s ban.