The Police have arrested seven illegal miners who were part of a larger group of ‘galamsey’ operators for unlawfully entering a mining shaft belonging to AngloGold Ashanti.
The arrest was made on Monday evening.
This follows reports that about 300 illegal miners were said to have been trapped in one of the shafts belonging to the mines at Anwiam in the Obuasi East District of the Ashanti Region.
The miners reportedly entered the underground shaft in search of gold deposits but were unable to come out after all exit routes were closed.
The Obuasi East District Assembly is currently working to rescue the scores of illegal miners currently trapped in the mining shaft.
The Obuasi East DCE, Faustina Amissah says a number of the illegal miners have been able to exit underground as of Tuesday morning.
“.. In the evening, about seven of them came out and then this morning too a number of them have come out so we are still waiting for the rest to come,” she said.
One of the illegal miners who spoke from underground explained that they went to the site to mine in order to feed themselves and their families.
“We came to the AngloGold site to work. We are locked at underground and we have no access to come out…. we don’t have anything to eat that is why we came to this place to get money to look after our families, pay rent and light bills,” he said.
He, therefore, appealed to DCE to come to their aid.
Meanwhile, AngloGold in a statement issued on May 30 clarified that unauthorised individuals who entered the mine are able to exit on foot through the existing ramp and main access points, and no one has been confined underground.
“Unauthorised persons underground are able to exit on foot, via the existing ramp, through the main access of this mining area. No person underground has been confined in any way, and the main exit ramp from the mine remains open,” portions of the statement read.
The management says it has informed the relevant authorities and public security services about the situation.
It says it is closely collaborating with these entities to address the matter effectively.
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