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Three illegal miners are reported dead after inhaling toxic fumes from a mining pit. The mine at Gbane in the Talensi District in the Upper East Region is owned by a Chinese company. The miners, whose identities are yet to be established, were said to have strayed into the deep shaft of Shaanxi Mining Company, a subsidiary of China Gold (GH) Resources Group Company Limited, at the time it was blasting rocks underground. According to the police, the blasting might have resulted in the emission of toxic substances which led to the suffocation of the three miners, believed to be aged between 22 and 24. The fumes were said to have engulfed the miners, a situation which compelled them to evacuate the shaft. They were then rushed to the hospital, but they died later. According to the police, one of the miners died at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital on Tuesday and the two others died yesterday. Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Upper East Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Thomas Yaw Agbanyo, said a post mortem had been carried out on the first victim, and that the body had been released to the family for burial while autopsy was currently being carried out on the two remaining bodies. Mr Agbanyo said that the police had advised the Chinese mining company to seal off all open inlets at its mining concession to prevent the recurrence of a similar accident in future. At the time of filing this report, the Upper East Regional Police Command was awaiting the post mortem report on the others to determine the next line of action.