Liberia: 10 Dead, 30 Missing, No Excavator to Conduct Rescue Search As Survivors Say Mines Ministry Forced Them Into Abandoned Mine
On Thursday there were no family members of the missing at the site. People here said that was likely because they had come from other places further away in Liberia. Many of the ten whose bodies have been recovered came from locals towns. There have been emotional scenes as family began burying them.
"As we await national government, the county administration has contacted an individual who owns an excavator," Isaac Williams, River Cess County Information Officer told NN/FPA."By tomorrow, we will use the excavator to uncover those who are presumed trapped underground." The County health team and the Liberia National Red Cross have begun arrangements with locals for a location that could be used for mass burial in the case the bodies are discovered.
"The mining agent put the people in line and say they mun go in the hole," said Naway."I tried stopping them, but the Lands and Mines people did not listen to me because they had people in the hole working for them." Residents of Chio Town woke up early Tuesday morning to the news of a mudslide that occurred an artisanal mine on the outskirt of the town about 11pm Monday. Local authorities in River Cess confirmed the death of at least ten people. No new dead have been discovered since Tuesday.