4 killed in ‘galamsey’ pit

DAILY GUIDE has gathered that four illegal miners, ‘galamsey’ operators, met their untimely death on Tuesday when the pit in which they were working caved in at Prestea Ankobra in the Prestea Huni Valley District of the Western Region.

The sad incident, which reportedly happened between 7 and 8pm, also left two other operators with injuries.

The names of the deceased persons were given as Paa Boadu, 36, from Abura Dunkwa in the Central Region; Doman Ballana, 37, who hailed from Sankana near Wa in the Upper West Region and other two whose names were given only as Sulley and Nkoalla.

The two injured persons are Ayoni Olani and Emmanuel Yeboah, who are responding to treatment at the Prestea Government Hospital.

According to eyewitnesses, the six people had gone to the galamsey pit to mine gold as it was routinely done by them but were unlucky that day.

They asserted that as the illegal miners were busily digging, the pit caved in, trapping the six in the process, but two of them managed to come out with serious injuries.

The lifeless bodies of the four persons have since been deposited at the Prestea Government hospital for autopsy.