Three illegal miners on Tuesday died in the Prestea/Huni Valley district when a pit in which they were searching for gold nuggets got flooded and collapsed on them. The deceased have been identified as Akins, 38, Tawiah, 39, and Andrews Kofi Berdu, 37.

The bodies of Akins and Tawiah have been retrieved and deposited at the Akropong hospital morgue for autopsy, while that of Kofi Berdu has not been found.

The District Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Mr. Iddrisu Salifu Mohammed, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Friday.

He said the victims were resident at Bogoso, Himan and Dumasi in the Prestea/Huni Valley district, and that they met their untimely death on Tuesday, around 01300 hours at Bogom site, an illegal gold mining area in Bogoso, when they tried to drain water from the pit they were prospecting for gold, but in the process the pit got flooded and the three were trapped to death.

Mr. Iddrisu Mohammed said one John who was with the deceased but had initially been asked by his colleagues to be at the top of the pit to ensure that the water they were pumping out was properly discharged, saw what was happening and therefore rushed to Bogoso to inform the community of the tragedy.

The NADMO coordinator said a search party was organized immediately to rescue the victims but as at Thursday the team retrieved only two bodies with the third victim, Kofi Berdu, still trapped in the pit.