NYATIKE , Kenya, April 24 (UPI) -- One person died and three were hospitalized after inhaling poisonous gas Thursday in a gold mine in Myatike in Kenya’s Migori County.
Clement Gagoto, Migori County police commissioner, said the miners were working when a generator broke down. The miner who attempted to fix the generator was overcome by fumes and died; his colleagues, attempting to rescue him, were rendered unconscious and removed from the mine in critical condition. A fourth worker found their bodies and sounded an alarm.
Gogoto said Red Cross workers transferred the injured miners to a local hospital, where and official reported they were all in stable condition. He blamed the incident on the growing number of illegal and unregulated gold mines in the area.
“It is unfortunate that most of the mining activities in the region are illegal, and the law has not yet been formulated to regulate mining activities,” he said.