ANOTHER GALAMSEY TRAGEDY...12 Trapped to death (1b, JULY 17, 2010)

WITH the embers of the Dunkwa–on-Offin galamsey tragedy yet to be smothered, another calamity has occurred at Attaso, near Kotokuom in the Ashanti Region, with at least 12 galamsey operators trapped in a collapsed pit.
An eyewitness, Mr Rocky Ofori, said nine bodies had so far been retrieved from the pit, with only one being identified as Kwaku Yeboah, aka G-12, a 20-year-old resident of Agogo, near Nkawie. The rest are yet to be identified.
He said all the bodies had been conveyed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) mortuary by officers of the Ghana National Fire Service at Nkawie for autopsy and identification.
Four others sustained serious injuries in the incident which occurred on Thursday when the pit in which the miners were prospecting for gold collapsed on them.
Two of the injured were identified as Issah Mohammed, 22, and Wisdom Tsowule, 24.
The incident has created panic at Attaso, Agogo, Kotokuom and Kwanfifi where most of the galamsey operators hail from.
Ofori, a resident of Nkawie, told the Daily Graphic that the victims took advantage of a severe rainfall the previous day to enter the pit and mine for gold.
He said about 12 noon the people of Attaso heard a loud noise and when they followed up they discovered that a disaster had occurred at the site, popularly known as the ‘World Bank’ due to its richness in gold ore.
The Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Chief Inspector Yusif Tanko, said the police had not yet determined the number of people trapped in the pit, adding that rescue efforts were being thwarted by the presence of large volumes of water in the area from the River Offin, which had overflowed its banks due to a severe rainfall last Wednesday.
He told the Daily Graphic that the police were still waiting for the river to subside to enable them to join NADMO and other rescuers to ascertain the real magnitude of the disaster.
“It is not possible for the police to move to the scene now due to the nature of the road,” he said, stressing, “The police have not been able to assess the situation on the ground because the River Offin and other rivers have overflowed their banks, making the road inaccessible.”
Chief Inspector Tanko, however, said information gathered so far indicated that the pit was shallow and so the victims could be retrieved within a short time.
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