Five persons have been confirmed dead while seven others injured when a mining pit collapsed on them in Rakum community in Barkin-Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The sad incident occurred on Saturday, January 28, 2023, when some local miners went to the mining site in the community to mine solid minerals.
It was gathered that the local miners were extracting minerals deposited some meters beneath the earth’s surface when the pit suddenly collapsed on them, thereby forcing other miners at the site to abandon their work for rescue.
The Nigerian Tribune reports that, five miners who died were deep inside the pit and therefore could not be rescued, while seven others at the surface were rescued alive but with various degrees of injuries.
A local miner who was part of the rescue team revealed that the incident happened at about 7:00 p.m as those on the site were working late into the night, adding that all efforts to rescue those trapped in the mining pit proved abortive.
According to him, the rescue team later gave up hope of rescuing them when they could not get to the point where they were trapped under the ground.
The chairman of the Barakin-Ladi local government area, Hon. Jok Alamba, who confirmed the incident, expressed shock over the development, adding that the youths died in the process of trying to make a living in an illegal way.
Alamba implored the youths in the local government to embrace legitimate ways of living and desist from illegal businesses that can destroy them.