KISUMU, Kenya, Dec 18 — Efforts are underway to retrieve three bodies of gold miners in Kurutyange village in Kuria after a mine was flooded following heavy rains.
Rescuers pulled out one body on Monday at the start of the retrieval operation.
Joseph Mwita, a local administrator, said four miners got trapped into the mine following a heavy downpour over the weekend.
Mwita said flood water filled the mines trapping the miners beneath.
“They were mining overnight and a local river overflowed due to heavy rains in the area,” he said.
He noted that families of the deceased reported them missing after they failed to return home the following day.
A search was mounted and a body was pulled out of the mud inside the mines but three others remained missing.
Mwita said locals have been frantically digging up the mines to pull out the bodies’ without success.
James Chacha, a local, said the body that was retrieved was of a young man aged around 18 years.
“The whole village is camping here to try to retrieve the remaining three bodies, it is work we are doing without blinking an eye,” he said.
Chacha called for support from county and national governments to bring in sophisticated equipment to help in digging out the bodies.
The affected families too echoed the same sentiments asking for support to get the missing bodies out of the mine.
