At least one person died while two others sustained serious injuries after Kamenwo quarry in Bomet County caved in while the victims were harvesting the sand in between the rocks.
Bomet County disaster management officer Stanley Mutai, the deceased was a 15-year-old girl while a seven-year-old boy and 34-year-old woman sustained injuries.
The injured were rushed to Longisa Referral Hospital while the body of the deceased was moved to the same hospital’s mortuary.
Mutai said the two children were strangers in the village and were touring the site in the company of the woman who is a miner at the quarry.
The collapse is the latest in a series of fatal mining accidents in the region.
In December, four people were buried alive in a similar incident at the same site.
Last month, at least five female artisanal miners died in a tragic accident at the Lumba gold mine in North Ramba, Rarieda sub-county, Siaya County.
Police said the incident happened on March 3 afternoon as a group ventured into a tunnel for the minerals.
The incident came a week after three artisanal miners lost their lives in a similar gold mine accident in Rera village, Gem Wagai sub-county, raising concerns over safety in local mining operations.
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.
Such incidents are common in gold mining sites amid calls for safety to address them.
The miners are accused of using heavy machines to excavate the products which weakens the walls hence the collapse.
West Pokot is among those with gold deposits and hence attracts residents who venture there to make a living.
Similar incidents have also been reported in other parts of the country including in Lirhembe village, Ikolomani in Kakamega county and another in Manyatta village, Vihiga county.
To deal with some of these challenges, the government has also directed that those involved in mining activities to stop operations for the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to conduct an environmental impact assessment to give the ecological guidelines before mining operations can resume.
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