Student drowns in mining pit

Kumasi (Asahnti Region) 25 May '99

Mr Akwasi Mensah, a 63-year-old farmer of Ayanfuri, near Dunkwa, has appealed to the police to speed up investigations into the drowning of his son in a surface mining pit.

Mr Mensah, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency on Monday, in Kumasi, said his son, Master Alfred Arthur, a junior secondary school student got drowned in the pit, dug by the Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC), on May four.

According to Mr Mensah, an AGC rescue team from Obuasi retrieved the body from the pit and that it has been deposited at the Dunkwa Government hospital mortuary.

He said the incident has been reported to the Police, who are yet to take any action.

Mr Mensah said many "unprotected pits", dug by the AGC for its surface mining operations in the area, are filled with water, and have are posing danger.

He attributed his son's death to the negligence of AGC and hoped the Police would speed up their investigations into the incident.

GRi./