17 bodies retrieved from collapsed galamsey pit

The site was originally operated by Chinese nationals who left the place not long ago.

Dunkwa Police Commander, Chief Supt. William Otoo Larbi, speaking to the Graphic Online from the disaster site at about 4pm said emergency workers were still digging through the mix of rocks and mud with the view to finding more bodies.

This was because of the inconsistencies in the figures community members gave of people who operated at the site in the morning.

Twelve of the deceased persons were identified.

Their remains had been deposited at the morgue of the Dunkwa government hospital for autopsy.

Chief Supt Larbi would not give further details saying, “I am coming back to write my official report.”

One after the other the bodies were brought out of the pit as an excavator dug out rocks and mud with local people wailing uncontrollably.

The bodies were covered with mud and it took some time for neighbours to identify them.

Story: Kwame Asare Boadu/Graphic.com.gh