Off the wire
• Exit of key minister not to change Brazil's economic policy: official  • Peru's new president issues national call for reconstruction  • Mexican exports rise 12.3 pct in February  • UN official calls for better understanding of population change  • Exit of key minister not to change Brazil's economic policy: official  • Peru's new president issues national call for reconstruction  • Mexican exports rise 12.3 pct in February  • Exit of key minister not to change Brazil's economic policy: official  • Peru's new president issues national call for reconstruction  • Mexican exports rise 12.3 pct in February  
You are here: 　

Ghana launches probe into goldmine accident that killed six

Xinhua,April 10, 2018 Adjust font size:

ACCRA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's Minerals Commission has taken over investigations into the Newmont Ghana gold mine accident which killed six people over the weekend, a senior state official said on Monday.

Benito Owusu Bio, deputy minister for Lands and Natural Resources, said the incident required an investigation in order to avert such occurrences in the future.

"So, as we speak, an investigative team has been put together to investigate the matter to ascertain the actual cause of the problem," Bio told local media in Accra.

Six people were killed on Saturday when a tunnel roof collapsed at one of Newmont's gold mining sites in Ghana, the company confirmed to local media on Sunday.

The tragedy happened following the collapse of the reclaim tunnel roof at the mining company's Ahafo Mill Expansion project, located some 307 km northwest of Accra.

Eight crew members were working inside the reclaim tunnel at the time of the collapse, said Newmont, the world's second largest bullion producer, in a statement.

The dead were workers of Consar Company Limited, a firm contracted to construct the reclaim tunnel roof, the statement said.

Although investigations into the accident are yet to conclude, Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu, says the fatal incident pointed to a clear engineering failure.

Speaking to the media after a brief tour of the accident scene, Amewu said the tragic incident could have been prevented had key structural adjustments been done.

Operations at the mine have since been shut. Enditem

 

Related News & Photos