Miner dies after being trapped at gold mining site in Migori 

FILE IMAGE OF A POLICE LINE

An 18-year-old miner died after being buried by soil inside a mining shaft in Nyatike Sub-County, Migori County.

According to police, the incident occurred on Wednesday evening at Matanda area in Kalangi Sub-location.

Police officers who visited the scene found the body of Steve Odhiambo Byron lying outside the mining shaft after it had already been retrieved by residents and fellow workers.

Preliminary investigations established that the deceased had been working inside the shaft when a heap of soil suddenly collapsed and buried him.

The owner of the mining shaft informed investigators that efforts were immediately made to rescue the victim, but he succumbed before he could be assisted.

Police processed the scene before moving the body to Migori County Referral Hospital mortuary, where it is awaiting postmortem examination.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing. This is the latest such incident to happen in the area. Dozens of miners have been killed in separate such incidents in the past months in a worrying trend.

There are efforts to regulate the mining industry for general safety of workers.

And police in Chepalungu Sub-County, Bomet County, recovered the body of a 64-year-old man who is believed to have drowned in River Nyangore.

According to the police, the body was spotted on Wednesday morning at around 8am by a young man near the old water supply plant, about 800 metres from the suspected drowning point.

The body was later retrieved from the river and positively identified by family members as that of John Kiprono Soi, a resident of Chebara Village within Ariyet Sub-location.

Police officers who visited the scene reported that the body had noticeable signs of decomposition.

The remains were moved to Longisa County Referral Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem examination.

The drowning incident had earlier been reported at the station on May 24.