A team from the Eastern Regional office of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) are currently on their way to Korle Teye a mining community in the Birim North Municipality where a mining pit caved in yesterday trapping some miners who were on site.
3 persons who survived the deadly incident are currently on admission at the Nkawkaw Holy Family hospital receiving treatment while the bodies of the 7 miners have been deposited at the same hospital’s morgue.
The District Security Council (DISEC) is said to have convened a meeting on the incident.
The Eastern Regional Operations Director of NADMO, Alfred Owiredu Agyeman speaking on the incident said, “We received a report from our Deputy Director for Birim North that a galamsey pit in a community called Korle Teye caved in, and they have been able to retrieve 7 people. According to one of the three survivors, they were ten in the pit, per his narration, seven died and three were alive”.
“The three are in the Nkawkaw Holy Family Hospital receiving treatment. However, the DISEC led by the CEO in the company of the police commander, NADMO district director and the rest of the committee are on their way to the disaster site to assess the situation. NADMO regional office, we are also moving to the disaster site to have first-hand information on the situation,” he noted.
17 persons were trapped after a mining pit in which they were working collapsed on them at the Korle Teye Takorso site in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region.
It is unclear what caused the collapse of the pit, but some community members suggest the heavy rainfall recorded in most parts of the country on Monday [May 15] was a factor.