A tragic incident occurred at the Akoon Community Mining, a part of the Tarkwa Community Mining Programme, resulting in the feared loss of five lives as a mining pit collapsed.

The bodies of the deceased have been recovered and are now at the Tarkwa Morgue. The company responsible for the mining operation has stated its commitment to enhancing safety measures.

Although the incident took place on Wednesday, September 13, it appears to have gone unnoticed by the media. According to a miner at the site of the accident, “we got to work, but felt the atmosphere had changed. No one could say anything so, we stayed around for a while. It was then that one of our people came to hint us of the extent of the accident that had happened underground and right in front of us they brought four boys who had died, and we thought that would be all but unfortunately, we heard more people were involved.”

He went on to clarify that the actual number of confirmed fatalities exceeds the five that have been reported by media outlets.

The miner disclosed, “Someone had sent a gang of 15 who were going to bring their load to the surface. But those people cannot be accounted for after the incident so, none of the people who had come there to bring their loads and the items survived meaning there could be more people underground.”

Nevertheless, the General Manager of the mining company contradicted the miner's assertions. He explained that those individuals involved in the accident had ventured into a restricted area, and regrettably, they met a tragic end.

The General Manager said, “It is true that is where we have restricted workers not to go and mine. That is where some people went illegally to work. They unfortunately mined the pillar that supports the ceiling leading to it caving in on them.

"We got four persons who were injured. They were taken to Redeemer Hospital to be cared for but unfortunately, five people also lost their lives. This is the biggest fatality since we started.”

The Akoon Community Mining Project is a major component of President Nana Akufo-Addo's Tarkwa Community Mining Programme, which was launched in 2021.

Since the program's inception, 4,887 persons have worked directly in the mine, according to available data.