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A search-and-rescue operation for survivors in a collapsed gold pit at Mpatuam/Bontefufuo in the Ashanti Region has ended, with the death toll standing at two.
The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) said on Saturday that no more bodies are believed to be in the ruins, after close to 78 hours of search.
The victims have been named as Yaw Asiedu, 34, and Francis Osei, aged 54.
The search for the dead was carried out without specialist equipment by town folks but for the timely intervention of some licensed mining firms in the area.
The goldfield 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”, Ignatius 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”.
Bodies of the victims had been deposited at the Afari Government Hospital morgue for preservation and autopsy.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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