Kakamega County Commissioner John Ondego said mining at night has been banned.
This follows the collapsed gold mine at Sigalagala in Shinyalu constituency, Kakamega County on Wednesday.
While addressing the press at the accident scene, Ondego said the mines in which the activity is being carried out are those that were left behind by the colonial miners.
He said they have not been confirmed to be safe for the current artisanal mining.
“I'm sounding a warning that there will be no mining of gold during the night because the miners have no proper equipment for mining and safety paraphernalia," he said.
"I want to ask the residents to be very careful while engaged in the mining activity in order to evade such accidents that have led to loss of lives every now and then.”
He said the rescue activity was a bit difficult because of the loose soil in the area which makes it impossible for rescue machines to access the mines.
By the time of going to press nine out of the twelve people that were trapped in a Gold mine had been rescued.
The mine is said to have collapsed at 1 am as the miners went about their business.
Eight miners were rescued in the morning while the one was rescued after mid-day.
According to the County commissioner, those rescued were admitted to Kakamega County general hospital and Mukumu Mission Hospital with injuries.
Three other people were said to be still trapped.
Ondego said the rescue operations were ongoing to find the remaining three miners with hopes that they will be found alive.
Residents who took up the responsibility of rescuing the victims called upon the County government and the national government to help the miners with protective equipment.
"Gold Mining is the main income generating activity in this area, the county government should invest in artisanal mining and make it a safer activity, " Chairman of artisanal miners Patrick Makhule said.
