Around 14 miners are believed to have died after becoming trapped following the collapse of a mine they were working in at Prestea-Nsuta in Ghana's western region, according to government officials.
A total of 19 miners were working at the site when an 80m deep pit caved in the wake of heavy rains last week. However, five of them managed to escape.
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The Prestea district police commander, superintendent Atsu Dzineku was quoted by Citi News as saying: “We visited the site and the information we gathered through the committee chairman was that 14 were dead. We are trying to retrieve the bodies. There were a few survivors.
“They were coming out when all of the sudden they heard the noise which means the pit caved in. Those behind them were trapped.”
There are frequent reports of illegal mining operations in Ghana.
According to ghanabusinessnews.com, the Ghanian Minister of Lands and Natural Resources John Peter Amewu estimated that illegal mining has resulted in $2.3bn worth losses to the exchequer.
The government took action for this by deporting illegal miners.
