More than 17 illegal miners, popularly known as ‘galamsey’ operators, have been confirmed dead in a mining pit at Nsuta, a gold mining community near Bondaye in the Prestea Huni Valley District of the Western Region.
The unfortunate incident, which occurred at about 3:00 a.m., on Sunday, July 2, 2017, has since left many residents of the area wondering what might have been the cause(s).
Speaking in an interview with Today on Monday, July 4, 2017, an illegal gold miner, Mr. Ibrahim Musah, who was also working in the same underground pit, revealed that “17 miners died on the day of that gory incident.”
He blamed the ‘galamsey’ committee at Nsuta for negligence.
According to him, he heard a large sound, and so he quickly warned them, but some of the miners ignored his warning.
“I heard a blast, so I called my boy, but I saw he had been trapped in the cage upstairs,” he narrated.
He recalled that “while I was crying, one boy just fell in front of me, from the top. And when I asked him, he said he left the pit when he heard the blast at the top, and confirmed that one of my boys had been trapped. We managed to pass through the other exit, about 50 of us.”
He pointed out that they wanted to rescue those trapped, but it was difficult because there was too much from the blast.
Source: Today Newspaper
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
In every work place accidents there are sometimes accidents but the frequency of the accidents makes the work hazardous. There are safety procedure in place in all work place to prevent accidents. In underground mining they use pillars and cages to prevent accidents. These cages and pillars prevent the pit from caving inwards and is rarely miners these days mine in a pit without cages and pillars. Pits without pillars and cages are mostly abandoned pits and in case where miners are in a haste to operate. Even illegal miners ensure this safety precautions except in cases where they are mining in concession of mining corporate and this is because they don't have the pace to contract cages and pillars in the pit since this activity is time consuming and tideous. Miners who mine in concession of mining corporations normally convince with security personnel of the companies and most of the "gang leaders"miners are layoff workers from the company. More questions needs to be answered about this accident.
.......there was too much what from the blast...report well to capture relevant details Todays Today Newspaper.