Four people, including a 14-year-old, were killed when a gold mine collapsed in the Kampi Karayi area of Pokot Central in West Pokot County on Thursday afternoon.
The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon and left an unknown number of miners trapped underground.
Emergency services are at the scene, and locals are also participating in the rescue efforts.
The collapse occurred while artisanal miners were engaged in mining activities, and this is the second such incident in the Kambi Karaya area.
In June one person was confirmed dead, and scores feared buried a gold mine collapsed in the same site in Kambi Karaya.
The June incident came days after four people died and several others were injured after a gold mine collapsed in Turkwel, also withinn West Pokot County.
The Turkwel incident, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday, June 7, was confirmed by West Pokot County Commissioner Khalif Abdullahi.
The county commissioner stated that the mine collapsed at around 3:00am when a mine caved in, trapping the miners inside.
Among the deceased, three were male and one was a female. The injured were rushed to Kapenguria County Referral Hospital.
Reports indicated that the miners had returned to the site at night using picks and hoes, unaware that the soil had become loose after excavators had dug the pit during the day.
Attributing the incident to the illegal mining menace prevalent in West Pokot, Abdullahi took a swipe at local leaders for inciting locals against the police who were conducting emergency rescue.
Illegal commercial mining in West Pokot has grown rampant, with such operations continuing without caution despite repeated warnings from government.
