Superintendent Eric Yao Avudzivi, Assin North District Police Commander, confirmed to the Ghana News Agency that the victims were working in the pit when it suddenly caved in and trapped them.
He said the victims were rescued and rushed to the St Francis Xavier Hospital for treatment.
However, one of the miners was pronounced dead on arrival, while the three others were receiving medical care.
The body of the deceased has been deposited at the hospital’s morgue for preservation and autopsy.
Superintendent Avudzivi said efforts were underway to trace the relatives of the deceased and identify the owner of the illegal mining site.
Some residents said the incident had heightened concerns about safety lapses and weak enforcement against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, in the Assin area.
They alleged that many of the illegal mining operations in the enclave were often run by foreign nationals, mainly from Liberia and Burkina Faso, with some locals employed as labourers.
Residents recalled a number of previous tragedies linked to illegal mining activities in the area.
They cited the drowning of a 35-year-old Burkinabè national, Alex Missiso Kudjo, in the Pra River at Assin Breman near Kushea on November 23, 2025.
They also mentioned an incident on April 2, 2025, when an officer of the Central North Regional Police Anti-Galamsey Taskforce drowned in the Offin River during an operation at Domeabra near Assin Awisam.
In another incident in April 2024, two suspected illegal miners died when their canoe capsized on the Pra River at Awisam in the Assin Fosu Municipality.
Residents lamented the recurring deaths and environmental destruction associated with illegal mining and called for decisive action to curb the menace.
GHBUSS
10 March 2026
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