Tom Okwach, is still trapped underground 22 days after the Abimbo gold mine in Bondo, Siaya County collapsed.
Efforts to retrieve the miner have proved futile. His family has now been left in agony as the rescue mission is brought to a stop.
According to Okwach’s mother Joyce Ochola Ongonde, the second excavator that the county government had brought in to help in the rescue ceased operations.
Furthermore, the committee team that was spearheading the operation as well locals who were giving a hand in the mission have started pulling out.
The Siaya county disaster Director George Aola had said that owners of the excavators decided to withdraw after being in the gold mine for 14 days.
He said that the machines were also needed for other businesses and that the ground was slowly sinking hence it would have been difficult to pull them out.
“It’s true that the two excavators are no longer in the site. The owners say the machines are needed to run other operations after being at Abimbo mineshaft for the 14 days,” Aola said last week.
Okwach’s sister Janet Nyunja Atieno called upon the national government to intervene by bringing experts so that they can be able to retrieve their kin whether alive or dead.
She further said that local miners had already resumed their mining duties while their colleague is still trapped in the gold mine.
Pamela Akelo, a former County Executive Committee member for Education in Siaya, called upon the government to conclude the mission while saying that the miner’s family should be provided with counseling since they are currently traumatized.
Okwach was among 8 miners who were trapped in the Abimbo gold mine when it collapsed on December 2. Six miners were rescued alive while the seventh one died during the incident.
Three other miners who were rescued 6 days after the incident vowed not to mining saying that they would find alternative sources of income since mining was dangerous.
RELATED STORY: Another Gold Mine Collapses In Bondo Killing One Miner 2 Weeks After The Abimbo Incident
