One person killed, two trapped in Turkana after gold mine collapses

 

The incident happened on Friday after a section of the ground linking the gold mines sank. One person has been rescued, with others still missing. [Bakari Ang'ela, Standard]

One person has been killed and two others remain trapped after several gold mines collapsed in Namang’oro, Lomeguro Turkana County.

The incident happened on Friday after a section of the ground linking the goldmines sank. One person has been rescued, with others still missing.

Assistant County Commissioner for Kakuma Division Patrick Siala said the incident occurred at around 10am on Friday in an area where residents depend on artisanal gold mining for their livelihoods.

Siala said authorities had accounted for four people believed to have been caught in the collapse. One was confirmed dead, another was rescued alive, while efforts to reach the two remaining victims were ongoing.

Kenya Red Cross official Rukia Abubakar confirmed that rescue operations were continuing, warning that the ground remained unstable and posed further risks to miners and nearby residents.

Abubakar said rescue teams were sensitising the community about the dangers and urging residents to move to safer, higher ground.

Authorities were also engaging mine managers to establish how many workers had entered the affected pits before the collapse.

Siala said residents had been advised to leave the affected area because further ground subsidence was possible.

Residents have, however, raised concerns about the difficulties of accounting for miners following the collapse, saying some workers come from outside Lomeguro and may have no immediate family members nearby to report them missing.

James Eyapan, a resident, said some miners come from Kakuma refugee camp and other sub-counties, making it difficult to establish who is missing when an accident occurs.

The incident happened on Friday after a section of the ground linking the gold mines sank. One person has been rescued, with others still missing. [Bakari Ang'ela, Standard]

Eyapan said the absence of reliable records made it difficult to determine how many people had been working inside the affected pits when the ground collapsed.

Another resident, Peter Epetet, called on the government to introduce regulations requiring mine operators to maintain registers of everyone entering and working in the mining pits.

He said proper records would help authorities establish the number of missing workers during emergencies and prevent people from being overlooked during rescue operations.

Epetet questioned the reported figure of two people still trapped, arguing that it needed to be verified against the scale of the collapse and the number of miners who may have been underground.

“You cannot tell us that more than five gorges have collapsed and then say only two people are trapped without showing us how everyone has been accounted for,” Epetet said.

He accused the government and the Red Cross of withholding information about the possible number of missing miners. The allegations could not be independently verified.

Resident raises concerns over emergency preparedness

Hamprey Achuka, a local resident, said gold mining was the community's main source of livelihood and called on authorities to improve emergency services in the area.

“We are taxpayers, and when a disaster like this happens, we want to see how the government responds to our cries for help,” Achuka said.

He also questioned claims that residents had consented to an investor taking over the area, saying the community did not recall granting such approval. The claim requires verification from the relevant county authorities and the investor.

Achuka further alleged that first-aid services and emergency support were inadequate, questioning the county's capacity to respond effectively to mining disasters.

Attempts to obtain a comment from Turkana County mining officer Job Onyacha were unsuccessful.

Onyacha did not respond to messages seeking his comment on the incident and the concerns raised by residents.

Residents estimated that nearly 10 mining pits or gorges had been affected, although the full extent of the damage and the total number of people potentially affected had not been independently established.

The immediate priority remains rescuing the two people reported to be trapped and securing the unstable area. The cause of the ground collapse had not been confirmed by the authorities cited in this report.