A mining site that collapsed in Bassa Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State has claimed the lives of 13 persons, News About Nigeria reports.
According to eyewitness accounts, the workers were all inside the mining site when it suddenly collapsed and crashed on them.
Upon rushing them to the hospital, the 13 of them were confirmed dead on arrival.
The tragedy was confirmed by the Chairman of the LGA, Joshua Riti while speaking to Newsmen on Tuesday.
According to Riti, the mining site collapsed on Saturday with the deceased who were working inside of it.
Expressing sadness over the deaths recorded, the LGA Chairman revealed that seven of the deceased are from Bassa LGA while the others are from different LGAs in the state.
Riti also revealed that investigations are ongoing to ascertain the cause of the sudden collapse.
He also lamented the fact that the deceased who are all youths between the ages of 18 to 30 met with their untimely death when they were working hard to fend for themselves and their families in these hard times.
He also prayed for the repose of the souls of the dead and that God would give their families and loved ones the fortitude to bear the tragedy.
Riti said, “This is an unfortunate incident, these young people were only out in search of a means of livelihood. They went out to put their energies to good use to sustain and meet up with the current economic hardship in the country but met their untimely death.
“I wish to extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones affected by this tragedy.”
Recall that the latest mining site collapse in Bassa is coming months after a deadly one happened in Niger State in June this year.
The mining site collapse in Nigeria State was reported to have been caused by heavy rainfall which left several miners trapped under the collapsed site.
Mining accidents are prevalent in the country with many involving illegal miners going unreported.
An example of such illegal mining mayhem is that of Ibadan, Oyo State which was reported to have killed many while several others were left injured in January.
In Ibadan, it was a deadly blast that was said to have been triggered by explosives stored by illegal miners.
