Nine Illegal Miners Confirmed Dead

AngloGold Ashanti has confirmed the death of nine illegal miners who were trapped in a disused Ayanfuri Mines near Obuasi. Another person who was injured in the incident had been hospitalised.

The 10 miners were mining at a slope on April 16, 2007 when the incident occurred.

In a statement issued by the company, AngloGold said it regretted the loss of lives and extended its condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

The 10 miners were mining at a slope on April 16, 2007 when the incident occurred.

The statement added that the incident, which followed a fatal one involving artisanal miners at Obuasi in February this year, depicted challenges faced by the company and the mining industry.

“As a company, we understand that there are linkages involving small-scale mining, including illegal mining, unemployment and poverty”.

The statement referred to the company's willingness to make appropriate contributions towards addressing these issues, which, it believed, should be expeditiously handled.

It was hopeful that by working in association with the Minerals Commission and the ministry responsible for mines, it would reinforce efforts to develop the lawful and properly regulated small-scale mining industry in the country.

The Daily Graphic published on the front page of its April 18, 2007 issue about the death of nine illegal miners in a pit at Nsuapim in the Wassa Amenfi East District in the Western Region.

The paper said when the incident occurred, the people around failed to inform the community on time for the victims to be rescued.

According to that report, the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday when the pit in which they were operating collapsed, and added that the bodies, comprising six females and three males, had been deposited at the morgue of the Wassa Akropong Hospital.