Illegal miners: about 48 of 300 trapped miners arrested

Police have arrested about 48 of the over 300 illegal miners who were reportedly trapped in a mine shaft owned by AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine at Anwiam. The miners had sent a distress call asking for authorities to intervene to ensure they exit the mine shaft after allegedly being trapped in there for four days.

However, AngloGold Ashanti released a statement to clarify the situation explaining that the exit to the shaft has remained open and the miners can exit by foot using the ramps.

Parts of the statement by the company said, “Unauthorized 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.”

In the latest development, about 48 of the illegal miners who emerged from the shaft in the afternoon on Tuesday were arrested by the police and sent to a nearby police station. This was after a team of police and the military were deployed at the exit to the main entrance where they urged the miners to come out.

Faustina Amissah, DCE for Obuasi East District Assembly, where the incident occurred has announced that the assembly is working to rescue those still trapped. She said, “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”.

Meanwhile, armed military men had to fire shots to disperse angry youth who had besieged the Obuasi District Police Command to demand the release of the arrested illegal miners. The youth protested the arrest by burning tyres near the police station.