One killed, two injured after the gold mine crashes into Kakamega

A miner was killed after he and others ventured into a tree to pick the gold on a place in Matindi village, Kakamega County.

Another two were seriously injured in the incident on Saturday, March 8, the police said.

It was the second weekend a death incident at a gold mine.

According to the police, three people ventured into the Kakamega tree for gold.

The tree is adjacent to the Yala river.

Then it collapsed, catching it.

Two were saved in life, while the other died on the spot, the police said.

The injured persons were in a hurry at Iguhu Hospital at level four for medical treatment.

The body of the deceased was taken to Mbale under County Hospital Morgue for a postmortem exam.

Another similar incident was reported in West Pokot at the weekend, where two women were killed.

Four four were injured in the Saturday incident that took place in Kambi Karaya, Sigor, West Pokot county.

The police said that the wounded were in a hurry at the hospital and that they were in stable condition.

West Pokot County Commissioner, Khalif Abdullahi, said the mine was around 12.30 while the workers were inside.

The bodies of the victims were taken over and taught to their families for burial.

The wounded survivors were saved by colleagues of miners and villagers before being taken to a nearby health unit.

Collapse is the most recent in a series of fatal mining accidents in the region.

In December, four people were buried in life in a similar incident on the same site.

Last week, an 18-year-old woman was killed while exploiting gold in the village of Korosion along the banks of the Turkwel river.

In the same week, at least five female artisan miners died in a tragic accident at the North Ramba North Gold mine, Sub-County Siaya County.

The police said the incident happened on Monday, March, after -while a group ventured into a tunnel for minerals.

The incident comes one week after three artisan miners lost their lives in a similar gold mine accident in the village of Rera, the Gem Wagai Sub-county, raising concerns about safety in local mining operations.

The women, who were supposed to have been six in number, were carrying out routine mining tasks, when the mining tree was suddenly around 3:00 pm, buried in life.

Such incidents are common in gold mining sites, against the background of safety calls to approach them.

The miners are accused of using heavy cars to excavate the products, which weakens the walls, hence the collapse.

West Pokot is among those with gold deposits and therefore attracts residents who venture there to earn their existence.

Similar incidents have been reported in other parts of the country, including in the village of Lirhembe, Ikolomani in Kakamega county and another in the village of Manyatta, Vihiga County.

In order to deal with some of these challenges, the Government indicated that those involved in mining activities cease operations for the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to perform an environmental impact assessment to give the ecological guidelines before resuming mining operations.

However, the miners ignored the directives so that they can endanger their lives.