Ghana: Mine Accident Highlights Risk to Children

(Johannesburg, June 13, 2013) – A recent mining accident that killed 16 people at an unlicensed artisanal gold mine in Ghana underscores the need for tougher measures to end child labor and protect the safety of adult artisanal miners, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch visited the site of the mine collapse between May 31 and June 2, 2013.
On April 15, at around 6:45 a.m., a mud wall collapsed in a large open pit at a gold mine where over 20 people were working near Kyekyewere, Upper Denkyira East District, Central Ghana. A few of the miners were pulled from the mud with injuries, but 16 died. Among the victims was a 17-year-old boy named Abroso Kwabena Donkor, an orphan who had dropped out of school at 15 to work in the mines.