Rescue operations are ongoing at the Kambi Karaya area of West Pokot County after a gold mine collapsed, trapping miners who had been working at the site.
Police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga, on the evening of Sunday, June 15, 2025, revealed that rescue teams from the National Police Service, the Kenya Defence Forces, Red Cross Kenya, and other emergency teams had been dispatched to the goldmine.
Muchiri equally disclosed that by Sunday evening, a woman’s lifeless body had been retrieved from the mine even as rescue teams worked to save several other miners who had been trapped beneath the debris.
“In the Kambi Karaya area, an unknown number of artisanal gold prospectors are believed buried alive. Efforts are underway to retrieve any casualties,” Muchiri said.
Emergency response teams
“Teams from the National Police, the Kenya Defence Forces and the local Red Cross emergency teams are currently working on the scene.”
The tragedy comes just days after another goldmine in West Pokot collapsed and killed four artisanal miners and injured five others in the area.
Confirming the collapse, which occurred on Saturday, June 7, 2025, West Pokot Sub-County Deputy County Commissioner Wycliffe Munanda revealed that the miners had entered the site at 3:00 am when the tragedy struck.
“Nine individuals were inside the pit when it collapsed. The five survivors have been taken to Kapenguria County Referral Hospital for treatment. Sadly, four: three men and one woman died, and their bodies have been moved to the hospital mortuary for post-mortem,” Munanda said.
Munanda indicated that the miners were digging inside the mine in the morning, unaware that daytime activity by trucks had loosened the soil. The mine caved in and trapped them, forcing emergency teams to scramble and conduct rescue operations.
Mine collapses
“They were using picks and hoes at night, not realising the ground had become unstable. Fortunately, we have accounted for everyone who was trapped; no one is missing,” Munanda noted.
Following the incident, West Pokot County Commissioner Abdullahi Khalif condemned some local leaders for what he termed inciting residents against police officers who had responded to the emergency.
“Certain leaders are misleading the public and turning them against law enforcement. Mining must be handled responsibly, and leaders must familiarise themselves with the laws governing this sector,” Khalif remarked.
Khalif stated that three mines had been shut down following the wave of collapse, which had put the lives of the miners at risk.
