File photo
THREE ILLEGAL miners, also known as ‘galamseyers’, out of four have drowned in the Offin River after an accident.
The four were on board a canoe when it suddenly capsized last Saturday, leading to the three deaths.
The survivor, described as an expert swimmer, managed to swim to safety leaving his colleagues who could not swim to their fate.
The incident happened at Manso Kaniago in the Amansie South District of the Ashanti Region.
Edward Oduro Nsiah, the Amansie South District NADMO Coordinator, has confirmed the report.
He said the four miners were returning home in a canoe from a mining site when calamity suddenly struck.
According to him, the canoe in which the four miners were travelling, unexpectedly capsized during the journey.
Mr. Oduro Nsiah said all the four people fell into the river, which had then overflown its banks due to a rainfall.
According to the NADMO official, three of the people instantly drowned and it was only one person, who swam to safety.
He said one body has been retrieved from the river and deposited in a morgue for preservation and autopsy.
Mr. Oduro Nsiah indicated that efforts were underway to retrieve the remaining two bodies from the Offin River.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi