Six alleged illegal miners were on Thursday trapped to death in a galamsey pit at Wassa Manso in the Mpohor District of the Western Region.

This was after the pit allegedly caved in at about 1500 hours.

Briefing the Ghana News Agency, the Assembly member for Manso Electoral Area, Mr Livingston Ankomah said the mining site, where the incident took place was earmarked for government’s community mining programme and expressed shock at the turn of events.

Mr Stephen Kwofie, a caretaker of the site, said at about 0430 hours last Thursday, he saw some of the illegal miners at the site, “I told them to move away from the area because an excavator was supposed to move to the site to clear some portions as part of the community mining programme, but they did not heed to my advice".

Two of the deceased kwabena Muchu and Abeiku Maley were identified as indigenes of Wassa Manso, but the rest were not from the area and could not be immediately identified.

The Western Regional Police Command confirmed the incident, while the bodies have been deposited at the Effia Nkwanta Government Hospital mortuary pending identification and autopsy.