At least four people died and several were injured this Saturday after the collapse of a gold mine in West Pokot County, in northwestern Kenya, local authorities reported.

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The accident occurred early in the morning, around 02:00 local time (23:00 GMT on Friday), when a group of artisanal miners were working at a site in the village of Karon, near the Turkwel River.

“Some artisanal miners died after a small landslide at a mining site near the Turkwel River (…). The police went to the scene and verified that there were about 15 people at the mine site,” the Pokot West Commissioner, Khalif Abdullahi, told local media.

According to Abdullahi, the victims were buried after the mine collapsed, while the injured were transferred to the Kapenguria Referral Hospital.

For his part, the local chief of the Kositei sub-location, Joseph Siwa, confirmed that the miners “had come to look for gold, but were buried alive when the mine collapsed.”

Rescue efforts are continuing with the participation of the county’s emergency services and the Kenyan Red Cross.

The accident has reopened the debate on the safety of artisanal mining in the region, where local leaders are calling for the suspension of these activities, denouncing exploitation by foreigners, environmental degradation, and growing conflicts between clans for control of the deposits.

“We strongly oppose illegal commercial mining in West Pokot. These operations, driven by greed and carried out without respect for safety or regulations, continue to endanger lives and exploit our lands and our people,” denounced Peter Lochakapong, a member of parliament for the county.

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