All ten suspected illegal miners trapped underground for three days after a pit collapse in Ghana’s Ashanti Region have been rescued and are receiving hospital treatment, local authorities confirmed on Friday evening.
The miners became trapped on Wednesday, May 13, when a pit at a site belonging to Northern Ashanti Mines caved in at Konongo in the Asante-Akyem Central Municipality, burying their exit route beneath debris.
Municipal Chief Executive Rev. Ebenezer Kow Aidoo confirmed the outcome after days of sustained rescue effort.
“As at 7:45 p.m. this evening, all ten of them have been saved,” Aidoo told TV3.
The operation brought together emergency responders, officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), security personnel and fellow miners, all working under difficult conditions as the depth of the collapse and unstable ground made progress slow and dangerous.
Asante-Akyem Central NADMO Director Lanbon Joseph told journalists earlier in the day that rescue teams could hear voices beneath the collapsed section, a development that raised hopes and intensified efforts to reach the workers before their condition deteriorated.
Aidoo said he had feared for the miners given the length of their ordeal, but many appeared physically stable on emergence. He described emotional scenes as survivors came to the surface, embracing friends and family members who had kept vigil at the site throughout the operation.
Mining experts cited by authorities suggested the miners could have survived underground for up to seven days, with access to water believed to have been a key factor in keeping them alive.
An investigation into the cause of the collapse is expected once the immediate medical needs of the survivors are addressed. Mining accidents remain a persistent concern in Ghana, one of Africa’s leading gold producers, where safety practices across both large-scale and small-scale operations continue to face scrutiny.
