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At least a body has been recovered from a collapsed pit in an illicit gold mine in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region, a local official has said.
Another is still believed to be missing after the walls of the pit caved in on Thursday.
The search for the dead is being carried out without specialist equipment by town folks of Manso Mpatuam, where the incident occurred.
The gold field at that enclave is a major center for illicit mining, a Zonal Officer for the National Disaster Management Organization, Ignatius Kingsley Amoah told Dailymailgh.com.
He said the field attracts workers from across the region, some of whom are armed. He described the area around the mine as “lawless”.
Local authorities have so far failed in their efforts to shut down the unregulated site.
“It’s a challenge for us”, Amoah told correspondent Dominic Kwaku Asare. “Illegal mining has been rampant at this enclave. We have a lot of illicit mining sites here which remained uncovered after the government’s mining ban”.
Amoah further told Dailymailgh.com that the miners conducting the rescue operation themselves faced dangerous conditions in the pit.
The yet-to-be-identified body of the deceased has been deposited at a hospital morgue, the NADMO officer said, adding that: “We are still searching for the last victim.”
By Dominic Kwaku Asare, Daily Mail GH
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