Five local miners have been confirmed dead and seven others injured when a mining site collapsed last weekend in Rukku community, Barkin-Ladi local government area of Plateau State.
It was gathered that those who escaped formed themselves into a team and rescued seven of their colleagues working on the surface, albeit with injuries, while the dead were inside the pit and could not be rescued.
A local miner who was part of the rescue team said the incident happened at about 7pm as those on the site were working late.
According to him, all efforts to rescue those trapped were unsuccessful and so the rescue team abandoned the site since they could not get beyond certain points.
Meanwhile, the chairman of Barkin-Ladi council, Jok Alamba, who confirmed the incident, lamented that the deceased died while trying to eke out a living illegally. He implored the youths to embrace legitimate means of living.