Accra - Seventeen people were killed while mining illegally at a disused gold mine in Ghana's central region when the ground caved in on them on Monday, local authorities and eyewitnesses said.
The dead included one of six injured miners who died in the hospital, the Municipal chief executive Peter Owusu-Ashia told reporters.
"It is an abandoned pit that has attracted a lot of illegal miners," Owusu-Ashia said adding that persistent efforts to ward off such activities have proved futile.
He said rescuers had retrieved 16 bodies, using excavators and other earth-moving equipment.
It is unclear how many people had gone into the pit, located at Kyekyewere, but rescue workers believed all those trapped had been recovered.
Illegal mining is a major concern in Ghana's mining areas where operators use sophisticated tools to process the ore.
Fifteen Chinese illegal miners were repatriated home earlier in April after they were found to have been mining illegally. - Reuters
IOLSA
They really deserved what they got cos they were carrying out an illegal job. Things illegal are always risky so they have to deal with it