By Newman Anthony Levey
Police in Bo say they are investigating the death of an unidentified man in a mining pit in Valunia Chiefdom.
Eyewitness accounts suggest that the victim died after the pit he was digging for minerals collapsed on him.
According to the landlord of the mining site, which is in Bomahun Village, Karim Lahai, he was away when the incident happened on Saturday, 8th February, and he only got to know when he returned a day after the incident.
“I travelled from Freetown and came to Bomahun and I saw a lot of people at my mining site. I came and told the mines authorities and informed the police too. We went there and drove them all from the place,” Karim told Politico.
“During the night of the same day,” he added, “I saw light from the same place. I told the police that because it was night, let’s not go there for our own security. In the morning we were informed that someone had died at this mining site. I informed the LUC in Bo West and he travelled and came to the scene. The people instructed us to bury him and mark the place where we buried him.”
The identity of the victim is still unknown.
“We don't know him, and we don’t even know where he came from. Even his colleagues and community people don’t know his name,” Karim said.
The police though say the victim had been identified by fellow workers only as “Soja”.
Musa James, Local Unit Commander in the area, confirmed that they authorized Mr Lahai to bury the body, noting that it would be exhumed for postmortem when the coroner is available “in the coming days.”
In the meantime, LUC James said he had already deployed additional men in the chiefdom to continue to monitor the situation.
Kairm, the landlord, said he didn’t authorize the workers to do any work on his plot, insisting that he had a license from the National Minerals Agency to do alluvial mining.
Bomahun is a popular mining area for gold. Politico understands that the miners were digging for gold in the area. Indigenes of the town said since 1930 the community has not benefitted from its rich mineral deposits.
They are now using this investigation to call the attention of government to also monitor all those who have been giving license to operate in the area.
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