Gold mine site collapses, kills miner in Migori

A miner died after a gold mine pit collapsed in a village in Awendo, Migori County.

Police said the incident happened in Kanyasrega village on September 3, 2025, in the evening.

Gordon Oluoch, 32, was in the pit alone while his colleagues were outside pulling the gold deposits he had dug out when it collapsed and trapped him.

He died in the pit before the body was retrieved and moved to the mortuary, police said.

The area has deposits of gold, which attracts locals to venture there for a living.

This is the latest such incident to happen in the area amid a campaign to make the sites safer for mining.

Dozens of miners have died in similar incidents in Migori, Siaya, Kakamega, Moyale, West Pokot and other places with such deposits as they venture into the sites to dig out the minerals.

Such incidents are common in gold mining sites amid calls for safety to address them.

The miners are accused of using heavy weaponry to excavate the products, which weakens the walls, hence the collapse.

To deal with some of these challenges, the government has also directed those involved in mining activities to stop operations for the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to conduct an environmental impact assessment to give the ecological guidelines before mining operations can resume.

But the miners have been ignoring the orders and ventured into the sites deemed unsafe.

This has led to the deaths in a row, officials say. At least one miner is killed weekly at the sites, officials added, decrying the lack of cooperation from local leadership.

Meanwhile, a wrestling game between two South Sudanese nationals turned tragic when one of the fatally stabbed his friend in rage in Kapsoya, Naiberi, Uasin Gishu County.

Police said the 17-year-old South Sudanese, identified as Deng Junior, had been playing a wrestling game with a 19-year-old fellow citizen when they differed on September 3 at night.

The assailant was angered after he was floored and dashed to the kitchen of the house where they were where he picked up a kitchen knife that he used to stab Deng, killing him.

The suspect escaped the scene with the knife as neighbours responded.

The deceased teenager was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, police said.

The body was preserved in the mortuary pending an autopsy, even as the hunt for the assailant goes on, police said.