Five persons, including a one-year-old baby, lost their lives when they got trapped in a mine pit at Akokonso, near the Odaw River in the Amansie Central District in the Ashanti Region.
They have been identified as Adwoa Konadu, 27; Atobra Akwasi, 42; Kwadwo Addai, 34; his wife Adwoa Anokyewaa, 27, and their baby Sarah Anokyewaa.
Their decomposed remains have been deposited at the morgue at the St Peter’s Hospital at Jacobu, the district capital, pending an autopsy.
The Jacobu District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Odoom Kodua, told the Daily Graphic that the police got information about the incident around 3.30 p.m. last Monday and followed up to the scene.
Bodies retrieved
Mr Kodua said when the police got to the scene, residents of Akokonso had retrieved the bodies of Anokyewaa and her baby, adding that with the assistance of the rescuers, the police were able to retrieve the bodies of the remaining three.
He said the remains were quickly rushed to the St Peter’s Hospital at Jacobu for autopsy.
Mr Kodua said the five people had been in the company of 12 poor villagers who had gone on a galamsey expedition in the area.
He said preliminary investigations conducted by the police showed that the place was an abandoned mining site where the people had gone to look for gold.
He said in the process of searching for the mineral, the uppermost part of the pit caved in, trapping the five to death.
Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana