The Chari cluster of communities in the Nadowli-Kaleo District (NKD) of the Upper West Region was Wednesday thrown into a state of mourning after a mining pit collapsed and killed three people in the area.
Details of the names of deceased were not readily available but the three, all men, were among sixteen other people doing illegal mining in the pit when it collapsed at about 12 noon on Wednesday.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Jd0E7vfovoZpmSvvY61rebKo7Eon2YPn”]Citi News’ sources at the collapsed pit who pleaded anonymity said two of the deceased were from Charikpong Nanga and Chari Konneh respectively while the other one hailed from Kaleo, all in the NKD.
An eyewitness said it took local rescue team more than three hours to save the illegal miners but the three could not survive the heat and multiple wounds.
“Our boys did their best but because we did not have machines to dig, it took quite a long time to save them from the heat. By the time we got them the three had died because aside the heat they got some serious breakages in almost all parts of their bodies,” the source narrated.
He added that they could not contact the National Disaster management organization (NADMO) because “as you can see we have no telecommunication network here and those who could go with motorbikes to report were those engaged in the rescue process.”
At the time of filing this report, ASP George Adanue, Nadowli-Kaleo District Police Commander, in an interview with Citi News said his outfit was yet to receive a formal complaint from the community about the incident.
“What we have heard so far can be described as rumor; the community is not ready to assist in our investigation. So we are still putting pieces of information together. We will let you know when we are done,” ASP Geourge Adanue said.
Meanwhile, Citi News can report that illegal mining (galamsey) activities has increased in the Chari Cluster of communities following the discovery of large deposit of gold in the area by an Australian mining company (Azumah Resources) .
By: Mahama Latif/citifmonline.com/Ghana