Two gold miners have died after the walls of an underground gold mine collapsed in Ikolomani, Kakamega county. Their death was as a result of suffocation due to lack of oxygen after being buried alive in the 150-foot-long gold mine.
According to reports from Ikolomani miner, one of the deceased, a foreman, had entered the mine to inspect a hole’s formation following the dewatering and lowering of the table.
When he didn’t return, the second man, an operator, entered to check on him.
Patrick Misango, a colleague of the two deceased men, emphasized the need for better mining equipment and improved safety measure.
“The government should deploy better mining equipment because these men tragically lost their lives because of the lack of equipment. This incident could have been avoided,” he said.
Ikolomani gold miners’ chairman, Samwel Njomo, equally expressed his frustrations with the government’s lack of support.
“We have been asking the government to help us; however, we have always been met by delay. The government is always fast in imposing tax on us, yet they never take time to fix roads that lead to the goldmines,” Njomo remarked.
A similar incident occurred in May of this year, claiming the lives of two miners. They are now calling upon governor Fernandes Barasa to intervene.
