13 bodies pulled out of collapsed mine, tens 'locked' in mud - Updated

Rescuers have pulled out 13 bodies Thursday afternoon, out of scores of miners confirmed dead after being trapped in a collapsed mine.

There were more than 140 small scale miners including women and children in the pit when it collapsed on Sunday according to accounts by escaping miners. Even though survivors say those trapped would be about 80 plus, the pit owner, who is currently in police custody assisting in the investigations, says the number would not be more than 20.

Joy FM's correspondent Kwaku Owusu Peprah reports that rescuers have this morning managed to reach the pit.

However, he said, only 13 bodies have been pulled out while rescuers counted several other lifeless bodies stuck in the mud. They also believe more have been covered by the mud as they try to pump out the remaining water.

This is how he pictured the scene: “From where I stand I can see seven people stuck in the pit, it is amazing how they are mangled together. I am told that when the embankment broke the people didn't expect the water to reach where they were so they all gathered at a certain location in the pit but accidentally the water reached them. So they are all piled up and weirdly mangled together, some heads are in some thighs, some peoples' limbs are in somebody's mouth.”

A man assisting the rescuing team said he saw the body of his brother stuck in the pit when he managed to go down the pit but could not pull him out because of the mud. He is counting on the rescue team to pump out the water to enable him retrieve the body for a befitting burial.

Kwaku Owusu Preprah said bodies that would be retrieved would be deposited in a nearby dugout for traditional rituals and purification. Relatives would then be allowed to give a befitting burial to identified bodies.

Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana