The Asikuma mine pit that collapsed at Wassa Essikma in the Prestea Hunivali Municipality yesterday has claimed nine lives.
Over 20 miners were reported to be in critical condition after the disaster occurred around 8 pm on Wednesday, November 24, 2021.
Tarkwa Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent George Kumah, stated that one person out of the ten people trapped in the mine pit had survived and was receiving urgent medical attention.
"Police had information that a galamsey pit at Asikuma area there had caved in and it had trapped some people there under it... we arrived at the scene when the excavator was trying to dig down the people who were trapped.
"In all, we had information that ten people were trapped and by the time we got there, only one had been sent to the hospital. The remaining nine who were removed from the ground were all dead," he said on TV3 Midday Live.
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The Municipal Chief Executive for Prestea Huni-Valley in the Western Region, Dr Isaac Dasmani, has called for a permanent establishment of the Rapid Response Taskforce and the government’s Anti-Galamsey taskforce, Operation Halt Galamsey in the municipality.
“The Operation Halt Galamsey come in and go. They are not stationed here. The Municipality is big and as such we need more men to fight it,” he said.
The Prestea Huni Valley, National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Director, Francis Abeiku Nyanka has assured to seal affected pits and provide safety measures.
“We will fill the pits but they will go back within a month or two so the solution is for the MCE and the regional council to release the site for community mining or small scale mining, then we can give them the safety measure,” he assured.