A gold mine in western Kenya partially collapsed, trapping 12 people, according to police on Tuesday.
Kenya has a small mining sector compared to its neighbors.
However, despite rapid growth in recent years, much of it is unregulated, with miners having to deal with poor safety measures and organized crime groups.
“The information we have is that there were around 20 miners at the time it collapsed, but eight have been rescued,”said Daniel Makumbu, a county police commander in the Kakamega region, told AFP.
“The search and rescue operation is ongoing, and we are urging the crowd to stay away to make the work easier and avoid endangering themselves because this area is very fragile,” he added.
The incident occurred late on Monday.
A report published by Africa’s Institute for Security Studies said legal small-scale mining, mostly focused on gold, contributed $224 million to the Kenyan economy in 2022—around half its mining output—and employed around 250,000 people.
At least five people died when heavy rains caused an unauthorized gold mine to collapse in May 2024 in the Hillo area near the border with Ethiopia.
