Chairman of the Small Scale Miners at the Upper East, Mr. Tampoare B. Robbert has assured the public that they will retrieve the rest of the bodies trapped in a flooded mining pit at the Upper East Region.
On Monday, May 31,2021 at about 10:00pm, it was reported that some small scale miners who went to mine at Moabok, a community near Gbane in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region got trapped inside a flooded mining pit.
According to reports, they were already in the pit when it started raining , therefore could not come out during the rain and the pit caved in.
Their inability to go home that day got their family and friends worried and later reported it to the police.
But on Wednesday, excavators were used to draw out water from the pit before the rescue team could retrieve the dead bodies.
Speaking on Ghana Nie, with Co Host, Ama Gyenfa Ofosu Darkwa, Mr. Tampoare said although 9 persons have been rescued, about three of the miners are still trapped in the pit.
“We have taken those who were retrieved to the morgue to prevent the bodies from going bad. I believe we will get the rest who are in the pit,” he said.
Although there was a rescue team from the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service, Mr. Tampoare said it is the miners who can go into the pit to retrieve the bodies because they have the experience.
He attributed the disaster to the negligence of road contractors who did not construct drains, causing floods during a rainfall which landed in the mining pits.
“You should look for the one who caused the mess and let the law deal with him,” he said.
