Falling boulders kill three miners, injure one in Meru quarry accident
A lorry lies on its side after a quarry collapsed at Kamarete in Ntumburi Location, Meru County on March 22, 2016. Three miners died in the accident while another sustained serious injuries. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Chief Albert Kimaita Kamunde said locals who alerted him about the 6.30am tragedy helped to retrieve two bodies from the scene.
- Police from Subuiga Police Station arrived at the scene and took the bodies to the Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.
- In the last two years, at least six mine accidents have been reported in Meru.
- Recently, one person died in Charuru Village in Tigania East after a quarry collapsed due to heavy rains.
Three people died Tuesday morning while one was seriously injured in yet another fatal quarry accident in Meru County.
The three miners were killed by falling boulders at the Kamarete quarry in Ntumburi Location while one miner managed to escape unhurt.
The driver of a lorry that the miners were loading with sand also missed death narrowly after the impact of the falling boulders caused the vehicle to overturn.
Chief Albert Kimaita Kamunde said locals who alerted him about the 6.30am tragedy helped to retrieve two bodies from the scene.
"The third victim succumbed to injuries as I rushed him to Isiolo Hospital. The fourth victim is recovering in the same hospital while a fifth miner luckily escaped," Mr Kimaita said.
Mr Stephen Mbaya, the lorry driver, told Nation.co.ke that he was inside the lorry when the accident occurred.
"They had just started loading the murram into the lorry when the boulders fell. The lorry overturned but I managed to escape through the driver's window," Mr Mbaya said.
Following the accident, the quarry has been closed until investigations are completed.
BODIES REMOVED
Police from Subuiga Police Station arrived at the scene and took the bodies to the Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.
In the last two years, at least six mine accidents have been reported in Meru.
In July 2014, four people were killed when a quarry caved in in Nkinyang’a in Igembe Central.
Workers were loading sand on a lorry when the walls of the quarry collapsed, trapping them inside.
Seven other sand harvesters managed to escape with injuries from the falling boulders.
In April 2015, two people were killed in a landslide at a quarry in Kamuramba Village.
MINERS IGNORED WARNING
The quarry’s manager, Mr Luke Maingi, said the workers had been advised against continuing with murram extraction but they ignored the order.
Mr Maingi said in the past three years, seven people had lost their lives at the quarry.
On October 1, 2015, five people excavating stones at Kabauni quarry in South Imenti perished after it collapsed.
Witnesses said strong winds could have uprooted trees at the top of the quarry, which led to the boulders falling and trapping the miners inside.
And in December 2015, one person died and two others escaped unhurt after the infamous Mutonga quarry collapsed.
Recently, one person died in Charuru Village in Tigania East after a quarry collapsed due to heavy rains.
