Some of the recovered bodies from the collapsed pit
IT HAS emerged that a 10-year-old miner miraculously survived the mining pit collapse incident which claimed seven lives at Kasotie-Kyekyewere electoral area in the Atwima Mponua District of the Ashanti Region.
Identified only as Yaw by the police, the minor was said to be among the illegal miners who were buried under the sand for sometime before they were finally rescued and rushed to the hospital for treatment.
A Nyinahin District Police statement, which the DAILY GUIDE has sighted, disclosed that young Yaw and three other illegal miners, including a female miner, were rescued alive last Wednesday evening.
Four Survivors
“Four victims, namely Yaw, aged about 10 years old, Afia Pokuah, aged about 50 years old, Oppong, aged 25 years old, and Festus Asare, aged about 27 years old, were rescued alive.
“They were rushed to the Mpasaaso Clinic and that they have been detained for treatment,” the police disclosed, and added that bodies of all seven people, who died under the debris, have been identified.
Names Of Seven Dead People
The police mentioned the dead people as Afia, aged about 25 years; Kwame Nkansah, aged about 43 years; Kofi George, aged about 30 years; and Anthony Acquah, aged about 28 years.
The rest were also identified by the Nyinahin District Police as “Otuo Serebuo, aged 20 years, Paul Frimpong, aged 28 years and Kwame Shadrack, aged 23 years”.
The police said the dead bodies have since been deposited at the Nyinahin Community Mortuary for preservation and autopsy, as investigations into how the mining pit collapsed is still underway.
Search For Bodies End
According to the police, the search for bodies in the deep mining pit has official been completed, indicating that all their checks pointed to the fact that all those who were trapped in the pit have been accounted for.
“The pit was further excavated and thoroughly searched, but no evidence was found to warrant the continuation of the search for additional bodies. Consequently, the search has been declared closed,” the police stated.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah, Kumasi