BUGIRI, UGANDA: Police in Busoga East Region are investigating circumstances under which 22-year-old Swaibu Wafula, died in a gold mine in Bugiri district.
Wafula, a resident of Budde village in Mayuge town council had gone missing for two days. He was found dead in a gold mine after miners noticed a stench within the area.
Wafula whose body was retrieved from the mine on Wednesday morning is suspected to have been buried by gold mine rubble, which suffocated him to death. Wafula’s body was been taken to Bugiri general hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem.
A miner who spoke on condition of anonymity says that the mines are prone to accidents, but since most of them are not fatal, they seek medical care from the neighboring health facilities without alerting local authorities.
Ashraf Wabwiire, another miner in the area says that the rainy season has contributed to the weakness of soil particles around the mining areas, making the mines prone to accidents.
“The mines are often risky and prone to accidents during rainy seasons and we normally rally our people to desert mines, with vigilantes deployed to ensure that such directives are not abused, however, some of them sneak through unnoticed,” he says.
Busoga East Police Spokesperson Diana Nandawula says that the gold mines have been closed, pending further inquiries into the incident.
Nandawula adds that officers from the police’s fire and rescue services department have been dispatched to inspect the mines and ascertain the steps undertaken to ensure safety before reopening the mines.
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