One miner was killed while six others sustained injuries after a gold mine collapsed in Kambi Karaya, West Pokot county over the weekend.
The victim was buried alive before the six who sustained injuries were rescued.
The body of the victim was later retrieved from the rubble.
West Pokot County police commander Issa Mohamud said the body was moved to Kapenguria Hospital morgue pending identification and postmortem.
According to the police boss, the miners are endangering their lives by venturing into the sites with no protection gear.
Mohamud said they have called for a consultative meeting to discuss the issue.
“It is not the first time such a tragedy is happened in these sites and that is why we need to discuss how it can be tamed.” The police boss stated.
This comes after earlier this year, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki banned the mining of gold in major sites over safety issues.
He said small illegal artisanal mining sites in the area posed grave public safety risks resulting in deaths when mine shafts cave in.
The area is among those with gold deposits and hence attracts residents who venture there to make a living.
The directive by Kindiki which also banned unlicensed commercial mining, came just a week after two people died following another collapse.
“To ensure regularised artisanal mining that meets public safety and environmental standards, the Government has banned all artisanal mining activities as well as unlicensed commercial mining.” Kindiki said.
Miners have put their lives at risk in search of gold, especially in Pokot.
In Pokot, the most affected areas are around River Sukut between Tangasia and Kapsangar locations where young boys drop out of school and resort to mining.
Some of these accidents have been attributed to the unsafe use of heavy machines to crush stones in artisanal activities, overlooking the environmental impact.