Three miners were rescued alive from the Abimbo gold mine rubble on Wednesday afternoon at around 2.30 pm, 6 days after the mine collapsed.
The three were among 8 people who were inside the mine when it collapsed on them on December 2.
The rescue mission has been going on since then and so far one more person is yet to be rescued.
Speaking to Citizen TV while at the Bondo county hospital where they are receiving treatment, Jack Onyango, Philip Ogutu, and Benard Ochieng narrated how they managed to survive for the days they were trapped.
The miners survived on muddy water and breathed through a hosepipe which was also their mode of communication with the rescue team.
“There was no space when we were buried by the soil, we were squeezed and got bruised by the rocks,” Ochieng’ narrated.
The thoughts of their family is also what kept them going as their rescuers worked hard to save their lives.
“I heard my brother out there and thought that I should struggle as a man to survive as we were being helped,” Onyango said.
Ogutu got sick while in the rubble but he is grateful that God helped him come out alive. On the other hand, Onyango thought of ending his life because as days went by, his hope of making it alive dimmed.
“I totally lost hope on Sunday. There was a rope and I thought I should use it to take my life,” Onyango said.
The miners said that they would not return to work in the mines but instead they would look for alternative jobs as mining was risky.
“I request the government to allow us to get other jobs so that we do not go back to mining,” Ochieng’ said.
Ogutu revealed that he only began mining recently and called upon other youths not to do the work.
The miners are in a stable condition and are expected to reunite with their families soon enough.
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