Illegal mining killed 3 in Kenya gold mine blast, police confirm

NAIROBI, Kenya

Police in Kenya on Tuesday confirmed that three workers died on Monday in a blast at a gold mining site in Nandi County located in the Northern Rift Valley region.

In a statement, police said the workers were killed in a blast caused by a team of illegal miners at the gold-rich Karebe gold mining site, while six others were seriously injured following the blast.

Albert Douglas, an official from the Karebe Gold Mining Company, confirmed the incident, noting that police helped retrieve the bodies of the miners that were deep underground.

The company in a statement said they asked the Kenyan authorities and the government, separately, for help to deal with the scourge of illegal miners since 2021 but no action has ever been taken.

“Our staff were instantly killed when a wall built to prevent the mine against flooding and illegal incursion was blasted illegally by illegal miners,” it said.

“Our calls to address the danger posed by illegal miners operating in our license area have not been answered by the relevant authorities, despite court orders prohibiting mining activities within the disputed area,” the statement added.

The Karebe Gold Mining Company, licensed by the Kenyan government, is a British company that conducts gold exploration, mining, and processing. It houses one of the largest commercial mining gold sites in Kenya.