Second miner dies in Shaanxi mining accident in Upper East
The second mine worker involved in the underground accident at Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited on December 11, 2019, is dead.
The 39-year-old victim, Moses Bataribanaa was taken to the Upper East Regional Hospital with broken ribs after a hanging rock fell on him and another victim, Richard Nakpier.
Richard was declared dead on arrival but Moses who was still breathing was referred to the Tamale Teaching Hospital for treatment.
Considering his condition, many doubted he would survive the accident.
“He is on admission with fractures of the left ribs. He has difficulty breathing. Without oxygen, it is not good at all. But he is stable. He is conscious. He can talk. Except that he has difficulty breathing because of the pain. The left leg to the knee has some abrasions.
“The foot is swollen with the ankle. He is on treatment and awaiting referral to the teaching hospital for further management. One was brought in dead,” a clinical coordinator at the Upper East Regional Hospital told Starr News a day after the accident.
This, however, is not the first mining accident in the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited.
Mining-related fatalities in the endowed-but-deprived district have claimed many lives and leaving others with injuries for a lifetime.
“These accidents and fatalities have become one too many. There is a need for general overhauling of safety codes in the mine.
For now, we will submit ourselves to investigations and also use this time to revisit all safety practices before anything can continue” Starr FM quoted PRO of the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Ltd, Maxwell Wooma to have said.
Since the company began its operations in 2008 in the district, there has been a chain of tragedies many locals invariably blame on the Chinese.
Catalogue of some of the disasters
On May 26, 2013, three small-scale miners died when gas from an explosive submerged a mining tunnel.
Again, three miners perished when a mining pit collapsed on them in October 2014.
On Wednesday, April 2, that same year, 2 miners were gassed to death and one person was severely injured.
In April 2015, 2 miners lost their lives and 8 were critically injured after an explosive went off underground in the same area.
That’s not all.
Some 16 small-scale miners were rushed from the community to the Upper East Regional Hospital after inhaling toxic gas from a mining explosive in 2016.
Seven miners were trapped several feet underground whilst scooping gold ore in September 2017. They all died unprepared, leaving behind many helpless wives and children.
As if this was not enough.
On October 23, 2018, one underground driller was killed and three others were choked by a deadly gas from a mining explosive in a Shaanxi mining pit accident.
In January 2019, the deaths of 17 mine workers— the worst disaster caused by a Shaanxi’s explosive blast in the history of mining in the community— shook Ghana to an extreme degree.