A forbidden gold mine collapsed at Lumba Village in Rarieda Sub-County, Siaya County, killing at least five female artisanal miners.
Six women involved in illicit mining activities were buried after the mine shaft collapsed on Monday, March 3, at approximately 5:00 p.m., according to witnesses.
After the tragedy, the six women who were buried alive were immediately retrieved by the high-alert locals. Five women’s remains were found after roughly three hours.
The National Government Administrative Officers (NGAO) had been on the scene to coordinate the rescue attempts, according to Siaya County Police Commander Sarah Koki, who confirmed the occurrence.
The bodies of the other five ladies had already been sent to the mortuary at Bondo Sub-County Hospital, she said, but the sixth victim was still being sought.
Caroline Oginga, an elder from Lumba Village, commented on the tragedy and revealed that the victims had received multiple warnings not to engage in mining operations in the collapsed shaft.
The women were buried alive after they disregarded multiple warnings and entered the 15-foot gold mine, according to Oginga.
The village elder stated, “They were warned not to enter the mining site, but they disregarded the warning and were buried inside right away.”
They had already been retrieved when I got there. “It was just someone’s farm that they had invaded to extract gold—it was a site that had been left for women to mine without any permit,” she continued.
In the meantime, there have been many reports of gold mine collapses lately; the most recent one happened just one month after a gold mine collapsed in Imachilifu Village, Shinyalu Constituency, Kakamega County, trapping 19 people.
Four persons were killed in the February 4 event, and the others were critically injured.
The miners were working in an old mining tunnel and without a county government license, according to Kakamega County Commissioner John Ondego.
