In Ghana: Rescuers search for 14 missing in illegal mine collapse

Police said they are still searching for survivors in Prestea-Nsuta, a town in Ghana's Western Region, after an abandoned mine caved in on Sunday.

Rescuers in Ghana are racing against time to find 14 missing miners trapped after an illegal pit collapsed in the country's south officials said Monday.

Police said they are still searching for survivors in Prestea-Nsuta, a town in Ghana's Western Region, after an abandoned mine caved in on Sunday.

"We can't confirm if they are dead or not," Nsuta District Police Commander Superintendent Atsu Dzinaku told AFP.

"They were coming out to find some food to eat, on coming (up) they heard a noise inside, then the pit caved in," Dzinaku said, adding that five miners made it out of the collapse safely.

"So those coming up, they were lucky but those down...they were trapped. We are expecting they are still there. We have not retrieved any of them."

Dzinaku said earlier people were communicating with the trapped miners in the roughly 80-metre deep pit, but as of Monday afternoon they hadn't heard any response.

Police believe that the accident happened as a result of illegal small-scale mining, known as "galamsey" in Ghana.

President Nana Akufo-Addo's government has been cracking down on illegal mining.

In March, activists launched a campaign highlighting the environmental damage it causes, from stripping forests to polluting water.

Since then, the west African nation has been working to find ways to better regulate and monitor small-scale miners.

Ghana is the second-largest gold producer on the continent after South Africa.

Police said they are still searching for survivors in Prestea-Nsuta, a town in Ghana's Western Region, after an abandoned mine caved in on Sunday. Read Full Story