The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Obuasi East District Assembly in the Ashanti Region, Madam Faustina Amissah, has disclosed that the illegal miners trapped in the AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) Obuasi mine’s shaft are refusing to come out for fear of being prosecuted.

About 300 illegal miners are reported to be trapped in one of the shafts belonging to AngloGold’s Obuasi Mines at Anwiam in the Obuasi East District of the Ashanti Region.

The illegal miners in search of gold deposits are unable to leave the pit and are calling for help to be rescued.

Reports say some of the illegal miners have lost consciousness underground while those awake say they have reached out for help.

According to the DCE, the Assembly has prevailed on the management of AGA to open up their main underground gate for the trapped miners to come out through it.

She added, however, that the illegal miners are refusing to use the underground AGA gate because they fear being arrested by AGA security. 

She noted that the management of AGA opened the main underground gate and some seven illegal miners came out but were arrested by AGA security with one managing to abscond.

This arrest, according to her, sent some shivers down the spine of the trapped miners leading to their continued stay in the pit.

The DCE made this disclosure in an interview with the host of the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Odehyeeba Kofi Essuman on Accra 100.5 FM on Tuesday, May 30, 2023.

“This is the situation the Assembly finds itself in”, she added.

She appealed to the family of the trapped miners to appeal to their loved ones to come out through the AGA main underground gate to save their lives.

She called on them to come out through the AGA's gate for the other matters to be handled by the Assembly and the management of AGA.