23 Dead Including 11 Children After Falling Into Open Illegal Mining Pits in Ashanti Region

• At least 23 people, including 11 children, died after falling into abandoned illegal mining pits across the Ashanti Region
• Ashanti Regional Minister Dr Frank Amoakohene disclosed the deaths during a Minerals Commission event in Kumasi on Monday, August 24, 2026
• Four victims remain unrecovered underground as the Regional Security Council launches a large-scale pit reclamation drive

At least 23 people, among them 11 children, have lost their lives after falling into abandoned galamsey excavations scattered across farmland routes in the Ashanti Region.

Ashanti Regional Minister Dr Frank Amoakohene confirmed the deaths on Monday, August 24, 2026, while speaking at the opening of the Minerals Commission's new office complex in Kumasi.

He disclosed that emergency responders have so far retrieved 19 bodies from the sites, with four victims still trapped underground and yet to be recovered.

Victims were heading to their farms

According to Dr Amoakohene, most of those who died were ordinary community members using footpaths to reach their farmlands, unaware that illegal miners had left gaping, unsecured pits along those routes.

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"Twenty-three lives have been lost only because they were on their way to their farms and fell into pits that were left uncovered by miners within the various areas.

Only 19 have been recovered from the pits; the remaining four we have not been able to recover," he said.

The minister reserved particular grief for the children among the dead, condemning the negligence of galamsey operators who abandoned deep excavations without backfilling or fencing them off.

"Eleven of them are children whose future has been cut short because someone, in his quest for money, left a pit uncovered within some of these areas that lead to farmlands," he added.

Pit reclamation drive now underway

In the wake of the fatalities, the Ashanti Regional Security Council has partnered with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to launch a coordinated land reclamation exercise aimed at sealing hazardous pits across affected communities.

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Dr Amoakohene urged residents, local leaders, and industry stakeholders to work alongside security agencies to accelerate the effort and prevent more deaths.

He stressed that swift action is critical for rural communities whose daily routines depend on safe access to agricultural land.

The tragedy underscores the deadly human cost of unregulated galamsey activity, which has long drawn criticism for environmental destruction and, increasingly, for the direct physical danger it poses to surrounding populations.

3 die in galamsey pit collapse

In a related sad development, YEN.com.gh had earlier reported that three people had died after an illegal mining pit caved in at Odumase-Santenso in the Asante Akyem Central Municipality on Friday, August 7, 2026.

The victims, two women and one man aged between 21 and 25, had been engaged in ‘one-man’ mining when the pit collapsed at around 4:00 p.m.

Rescue efforts had been hampered after a backhoe developed a fault, forcing residents to manually dig through the collapsed pit to recover the bodies.

Source: YEN.com.gh