The rescue mission to recover bodies of illegal miners who got trapped in a pit at Nsuta-Prestea in the Prestea-Hunni Valley District of the Western Region has come to an end.

The pit was closed after the rescue team failed to retrieve other dead bodies.

The rescue mission came to an end yesterday after the team realized that conditions in the pit were not conducive for the exercise and that there was the likelihood of recording further casualties.

ASP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), who disclosed this to DAILY GUIDE in an interview, mentioned that the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, who was on the ground, met the relatives of the affected victims, chiefs and other stakeholders.

“After deliberations there was consensus that the pits should be closed for a mass burial for the victims. It was also revealed that the number dead in the pit was 22,” she noted.

The District Coroner of Prestea-Hunni Valley, Frank Addo Ashitey and Dr. Kwasi Acheampong of Prestea Government Hospital were invited to the scene.

The coroner authorized the mass burial as consented and documented by all the relatives.

Rev. Father Raphael Eshun, a Catholic Priest at Prestea, Chief Iman of Bondaye, Mohammed Tahiru and the Chief of Mbiase Nsuta, Nana Adu Panin, performed the necessary rites and said prayers for the souls of the deceased.

ASP Olivia Adiku indicated that Golden Star Prestea Underground Mines in the area brought equipment to cover the site.

Seventeen persons were reported to have been trapped in the pit that caved on the illegal miners four days ago, but the team was able to retrieve only one body on Wednesday morning.

Efforts to retrieve more bodies hit a snag after a heavy downpour in the area, which was similar to the one that resulted in the collapse of the mine.

Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu-Bio on Wednesday, revealed that a rescue team at the collapsed mining site had made some success.

But the police, who were part of the operation, called off the exercise in order not to endanger the lives of members of the rescue team.