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Five local miners were feared dead and seven others sustained fatal injuries over the weekend in the Rukku community of Barakin-Ladi local government area of Plateau State when a mining pit collapsed on them.
A source close to the community revealed that the unfortunate incident occurred on Saturday when some local artisanal miners went to the mining site in the community to mine solid minerals.
It was gathered that the local miners were extracting minerals deposited some meters beneath the earth’s surface when the pit suddenly collapsed on them, thereby forcing other miners at the site to abandon their work for rescue.
Nigerian Tribune learnt that the five who died were deep inside the pit and therefore could not be rescued, while seven others at the surface were rescued alive but with various degrees of injuries.
A local miner who was part of the rescue team but crave anonymity revealed that the incident happened at about 7:00 p.m as those on the site were working late into the night, adding that all efforts to rescue those trapped in the mining pit proved abortive.
According to him, the rescue team later gave up hope of rescuing them when they could not get to the point where they were trapped under the ground.
When contacted, the chairman of the Barakin-Ladi local government area of the state, Hon. Jok Alamba, who confirmed the incident, expressed shock over the development, adding that the youths died in the process of trying to eke out a living in an illegal way.
Alamba implored the youths in the local government to embrace legitimate ways of living and desist from illegal businesses that can destroy them.
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