Residents in Migori County are searching for the bodies of three gold miners feared dead while prospecting gold at Kurutyange mines.

The miners died on Thursday last week, after drowning on when water pump system they were using failed..

The family of the deceased have blamed the County and National government for failure to respond on time.

According to Simon Mwita the past four days the government has neglected them, stating that the county government only donated one generator which has not been effective in the pumping of water.

READ ALSO: Four people feared dead as gold mine collapses in Kuria West

While echoing Mwita’s remarks,Manuel Matiko said that the residents decided to hire generators and buy fuel to facilitate pumping of the water which is expensive.

Kuria West sub-county Deputy County commissioner Andrew Mwiti said that they managed to retrieve one body, and are still searching the remaining three.

Currently, the miners involved in the search for their missing colleagues are hopeful and confident that they will recover the bodies in the near future.

Similar incidents in Migori County

This is not the first time miners are dying from the collapse mines in Migori County.

On February 2020, Four gold miners lost their lives after the Osiri mines collapsed to them.

The tragedy that took place at the gold mine in Nyatike left fifteen others sustaining injuries, while six others in a critical condition and undergoing treatment across various hospitals.

According to David Oulo, the local chief, the miners were prospecting gold within an area renowned for its abundant mineral deposits when the tragic incident happened.

“Three bodies were badly mutilated after being crushed, the other suffocated to death when he was cornered in a tight spot,” Oulo said.

In 2018, six people were buried alive and feared dead after huge stones collapsed on them while they sought shelter from the rain inside a copper pit in Nyatike, Migori County.

“They had climbed out of the deep mines and were preparing to leave for home when a heavy downpour forced them to shelter inside one of the caves. Heavy boulders and soil triggered by the rains fell on them,” said Gilbert Ocholla, Chairman of Nyatike Copper Miners group