At Least Five Killed as Gold Mine Site Collapses in Migori 

At least five miners were killed after a gold mine collapsed in Rongo, Migori County. 

The gold mine at Kanga collapsed on Tuesday July 9 evening, officials said.

Rongo Sub County Deputy County Commissioner George Otenga said two miners died while they were receiving treatment while three died inside the collapsed mine.

They had no protection gear at the time of the incident.

Otenga said there were 18 miners inside the collapsed mine when the incident happened and they are now in the process of accounting for all affected persons.

He said some of the miners who were inside the collapsed mine managed to escape through other routes and they are in the process of counting them physically to establish if the 13 others survived.

“We have sent out officers to locate all the survivors of the collapsed mine,” he said.

Otenga said the concerted effort among all stakeholders helped them locate the miners inside the 750 feet deep mining shaft.

He also appealed to the miners to take necessary precautions when prospecting gold to mitigate deaths and injuries in the mines.

Most of the gold mines have been found to be unsafe. They have caused dozens of deaths.

In March 2024, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki banned mining of gold in Nyatike after six miners are killed.

He visited the area and said small illegal artisinal mining sites in the area posed grave public safety risks resulting in deaths when mine shafts cave in.

The directive by Kindiki which also banned unlicenced commercial mining, came just a week after two people died following another collapse.

“To ensure regularised artisanal mining that meets public safety and environmental standards, the Government has banned all artisanal mining activities as well as unlicenced commercial mining,” he said.

The area 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.

Miners have put their lives at risk in search of gold, especially in Pokot.

In Pokot, the most affected areas are around River Sukut between Tangasia and Kapsangar locations where young boys drop out of school and resort to mining.

Some of these accidents have been at- tributed to the unsafe use of heavy machines to crush stones in the antisanal activities, overlooking the environmental impact.

The machineries make the sites weak and unsafe for the miners, according to officials.

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.