Two killed in Kenya quarry tragedy

Written By:Ann Mburu , Posted: Thu, Aug 12, 2010

One miner is still trapped after the walls of a quarry at Timboni area in Kisauni caved in killing two people.

The men were working at the quarry Wednesday evening when it collapsed killing the two instantly. One person is still trapped though eye witnesses said he could be dead.

By 9am in the morning no rescue teams had arrived at the scene.

According to John Ochieng one of the survivors, he had informed the concerned authorities and no help was forthcoming.

Locals were struggled to clear the stones with bare hands. Ochieng said lack of personnel and equipment hampered the rescue operation adding that chances of finding the worker alive were slim.

Other workers said though they were aware of the dangers involved, stone mining was their only way of eking out a living.

A building and construction boom has shot up the demand for building materials, leading to high demand for building stones, ballast and sand.

According to the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema), majority of the quarries do not meet the country's environments assessment impacts (EAI) requirements.