Three die over ?5,000

A fight that ensued between two brothers over ?5,000 at a mining site at Kobriso in the West Akim District of the Eastern region has resulted in the death of three people.

As the two men were fighting, they fell into a mine pit and a brother who attempted to rescue them also fell in and all three died.

Three other persons who tried to separate the fighters also fell in the pit, said to be 16 feet deep but were rescued by some workers.

The incident took place on November 1, 2005.

The deceased, Kwasi Fori and Kwame Asamoah (brothers) and Nicholas Danso were both casual workers with J.B Dartey, a small-scale gold mining company operating in the district.

The station officer of Akwatia Police station, Chief Inspector S. A Ntow confirmed the incident and said Danso was the leader of the groups at the mining site where his brother also worked.

He said Danso asked Fori to collect a heap of gravel near a pit and take it to another site but he refused, citing the deduction of ?5,000 from his wages earlier by Danso.

Chief Inspector Ntow said apparently provoked, Danso prompting him to hit Fori with a shovel he was hold at the time.

He said three days earlier, a misunderstanding ensued between the two brothers (Danso and Fori) following the deduction of ?5,000 being a day?s wage from the latter?s wage by the former from absenting himself from work.

Chief Inspector Ntow said with that in mind, Fori did not take it kindly to Danso?s hitting him with a shovel and that resulted in the fight.

The police officer said Asamoah a direct brother of Fori went to separate them but the three of them unfortunately fell into the 16 feet deep pit filled with water and died.

Other workers who attempted to save them also fell into the pit but were rescued.

The deceased have since been buried.