- Most miners venture into the sites with no protective gear hence the casualties.
- The miners were about 200 feet in the tunnel when the incident happened, other victims said.
Image: The Star
A female miner was killed after the walls of a gold mining site collapsed in a village in Ndori, Rarieda, Siaya County.
The woman identified as Jackline Okola was among miners at the site to make a living when it collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, police and locals said.
The other five miners managed to escape with slight injuries and tried to rescue her in vain.
The incident happened in the North Ramba sub-location.
Police said the body of the woman was later removed from the rubbles and taken to Lwak Mission Hospital Mortuary for autopsy.
It had bruises on the face and a swollen right knee, police said.
Most miners venture into the sites with no protective gear hence the casualties.
The miners were about 200 feet in the tunnel when the incident happened, other victims said.
The incident comes months after at least three gold miners died after the walls of an underground mine collapsed in Manyatta village, Vihiga.
Police said two others escaped with injuries in the incident. They were pulled out alive and rushed to hospital.
The site is among many discovered in the area and where residents venture to make a living.
Officials however say the tunnels where the miners venture are unsafe for their operations.
The officials said the miners were using heavy machines to crush stones in their artisanal activities, overlooking the environmental impact.
As part of efforts to address the menace, government officials have always directed those involved in mining activities to stop operations for the National Environmental Management Authority to conduct an environmental impact assessment to give the ecological guidelines before mining operations can resume.
Nema officials were directed to carry out the environmental impact assessment and give reports at the sites as part of efforts to address the safety measures.
The gold miners are also ordered to seek licenses from all the relevant government authorities before embarking on the work.
They have been told to stop using heavy machinery at the sites.
These machineries make the sites weak and unsafe for the miners.
The majority of the gold mining activities are done by small and medium enterprise miners who have been exposed to unsafe practices in the mining extraction processes.
Plans are underway to regulate the activities at the sites.