Death toll from goldmine collapse in Nigeria rises to 20

By Timothy Olanrewaju

ABUJA, Nigeria (AA) - The death toll from a goldmine collapse in Nigeria's north-central state has risen to 20, a senior police official confirmed on Thursday.

The bodies of 20 miners were recovered on Wednesday, but progress to rescue others trapped since the collapse of a goldmine in Niger State on Monday is slow due to a lack of equipment, Ibrahim Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, told Anadolu by phone.

Earlier, a local official said dozens of miners were trapped inside a goldmine in the Galadima Kogo community in the Shiroro region on Monday.

However, information about the incident was not available until Wednesday due to the country's nationwide strike, which paralyzed all sectors and disrupted telecommunications systems. The strike ended at noon on Tuesday.

"The mine site is profound, and we have to be careful because there are miners underneath the tunnels and stones. There are heavy stones around, and the process is difficult," Husseini said.

Earlier in a statement, the Niger State’s Ministry of Mineral Resources released the names of the miners trapped in the collapsed site.

The minister blamed the mining company for failing to comply with the government's order, which had suspended all mining activities in the area.

It said on Wednesday, a miner’s body and six injured were pulled out of the collapsed mine site.