Death toll in collapsed Migori gold mine rises to five

Rescuers at the mining site in Kanga, Rongo sub-county.

The number of fatalities at the Kanga gold mine in Rongo Sub-County, Migori County has risen to five.

This is after four more people died on Wednesday.

Rongo Deputy County Commissioner George Matundura, confirming the incident said that they recovered three more bodies from the mines while another person died while receiving treatment.

Rescue operations went on until late in the night as efforts were made to retrieve 12 miners who had been trapped in the mines.

"We tried to save lives. At 10.25 pm, we managed to save all the people apart from five fatalities," Matundura said.

He emphasised the need for miners to check on their safety before going into the mines. A team from Migori was headed to the site on Wednesday.

They will be inspecting all the sites and those that don't meet the safety standards will be shut.

Matundura said the first person died yesterday while being rushed to Rongo Sub-County Hospital.

The entrance of the mining site is said to have collapsed trapping 18 people. The first three to be rescued were outside the mining site.

"They had finished their shift and were getting out when the walls of the mining site collapsed. The others were inside," he said.

The mining site was 750 meters feet deep.

The incident is the second to be experienced in the area after one person died when the walls of a mining site he was working in caved in last month.