Five female artisanal miners have been confirmed dead after a prohibited gold mine collapsed at Lumba Village in Rarieda Sub-County, Siaya County.
The women, who were reportedly six in number, were performing routine mining tasks when the mining shaft suddenly caved in around 3:00 p.m., burying them alive.
Following the incident, locals immediately began the process of retrieving the women who were buried alive.
5 women killed after a prohibited gold mine collapsed at Lumba Village in Rarieda Sub-County, Siaya County. Photo: Courtesy.
After about three hours, the bodies of five women were recovered.
Confirming the incident, Siaya County Police Commander Sarah Koki revealed that the National Government Administrative Officers were already on the scene to coordinate the rescue efforts.
She moreover noted that the search for the sixth victim was still ongoing.
The bodies of the other five women had already been transported to the Bondo Sub-County Hospital mortuary.
This recent incident comes barely a month after 19 people were trapped when a gold mine collapsed in Imachilifu Village, Shinyalu Constituency, Kakamega County.
The incident left four people dead, while the rest sustained critical injuries.
Report indicated that the miners were operating in an aged mining tunnel and were not licensed by the county government.
