At least 23 people, including 11 children, have died after falling into abandoned illegal mining pits in the Ashanti Region, Regional Minister Dr Frank Amoakohene has revealed.
According to the Minister, 19 bodies have so far been retrieved from the pits, while four victims remain trapped underground and are yet to be recovered.
“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,” he stated.
“Only 19 have been recovered from the pits; the remaining four we have not been able to recover.”
Dr Amoakohene disclosed on Monday, August 24, 2026, during the commissioning of the Minerals Commission’s new ultramodern office complex in Kumasi.
He said the victims were mostly residents who fell into the uncovered pits while using routes leading to their farms, a grim consequence of mining activities left unregulated and unrehabilitated.
The Minister expressed particular anguish over the high number of minors among the deceased, describing their deaths as preventable tragedies.
“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 lamented.
Dr Amoakohene said the Regional Security Council, in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, has initiated an exercise to reclaim and cover abandoned illegal mining pits across affected communities.
He noted that the reclamation effort is currently ongoing and called on all stakeholders, including traditional authorities, local leaders, and mining operators, to support the initiative to secure abandoned sites and prevent further deaths.
The Minister stressed that urgent action is needed to address the persistent danger posed by these pits, particularly in farming communities where residents have no alternative routes to their farmlands.
