Have you ever wondered why people would put their lives in danger just to earn a meal? Well this a sad reality for many miners who don’t see other alternatives to survive.
Three workers were killed after a wall of Mutonga quarry in South Imenti constituency caved in on Tuesday.One person escaped with serious injuries and is recuperating at Meru County Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The bodies of the deceased were taken to St Anne’s Hospital in Igoji after they were retrieved in an operation that lasted over four hours.
“We retrieved the bodies using an excavator and managed to pull them out after four hours,” Igoji East MCA John Kireria said.
Meru experienced heavy rains on Monday night, weakening the quarry’s walls.
Kireria asked residents to avoid quarries when it rains heavily.
“We do not want to lose more quarry workers. We want those responsible to do an assessment and tell us which areas are safe.”
The Kenya Meteorological department earlier warned Kenyans to expect heavy rains in most parts of the country during the October-November-December short rains season.
Acting director Stella Aura said the rain will be well distributed both in time and space, especially in Northeastern, North-western, Western, Central and the Coastal regions.
She spoke while releasing the forecast at the Kenya Meteorological department headquarters.
Imenti South deputy county commissioner Gichiri Mugo also revealed that the quarry, situated along the Meru-Nairobi highway, was being operated illegally and is on a road reserve.
In December 2015, one person was killed in a similar incident at the quarry.
Meru county commissioner Wilfred Nyagwanga said workers have ignored Nema warnings to keep away from the quarry.
The workers said they will not stop going to the quarries during the rainy season because it is their only source of livelihood.