Sekondi (Western Region) - Four stone winners including two women died on the spot when a heap of sand fell on them while they were winning stone at Fijai hills near Sekondi on Monday.

Eyewitnesses gave their names as Mustaph Nsor, Osumanu Mumuni, Efua and Theresa who was pregnant. They said the victims were winning stone after heavy rains when the accident occurred.

The eyewitnesses said the victims were taken to the Effia-Nkwanta Regional hospital. Peter Hodgson, Senior Chemist of the Mines Department, who visited the scene, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the victims were winning stone illegally.

He said they did not obtain licence from the Minerals Commission and permit from the Mines Department and the site was not approved for stone winning. Hodgson said the incident, which normally occurs in mining areas, was the first ever in the Shama-Ahanta Metropolis. He advised stone winners, as well as illegal granite quarry operators to regularise their activities.