By Kepher Otieno - Reporter
Kenya, 10 May 2026 - A desperate overnight rescue operation in western Kenya has turned into a grim vigil after three artisanal miners, including two brothers, were trapped underground following the collapse of a gold mine shaft in Bondo.
The accident, which occurred at Ogago ‘A’ village in North Sakwa on Friday afternoon, has once again exposed the deadly risks faced by thousands of informal miners working in precarious conditions across Kenya’s gold-rich regions.
Those feared trapped inside are Brandon Juma, 22, Erick Omondi Okode and his elder brother Amos Ouma Okode, 40.
Witnesses say the mine caved in shortly after 1:00 p.m., trapping Mr Juma and Mr Omondi beneath tonnes of loose earth as workers scrambled for safety in scenes of panic and confusion.
“We were twelve inside the mine when the shaft suddenly collapsed,” recalled Boaz Ajuoga, one of the survivors.
“Ten of us managed to escape, but Juma and Omondi were trapped.”
What followed was a frantic and emotionally charged rescue mission carried out largely by fellow miners armed with rudimentary tools and bare determination.
Throughout Friday night, groups of exhausted workers dug through unstable soil in the hope of reaching the trapped men alive. But according to witnesses, repeated earth movements and collapsing debris severely hampered the effort.
“We dug and dug, hoping to reach them, but the soil kept caving in,” Mr Ajuoga said.
“It was heartbreaking.”
Then, in a devastating twist, the grim hope was followed by another disaster in the early hours of Saturday morning.
At around 3:00 a.m., Amos Ouma Okode reportedly entered the unstable shaft in an attempt to rescue his younger brother Erick. Moments later, another section of the mine collapsed, trapping him underground as well.
“He insisted on going in for Erick,” Mr Ajuoga said quietly.
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“But then another section collapsed, and we lost him too.”
The disaster has left families and residents in the rural mining community a worried lot, while raising renewed questions about safety standards in Kenya’s expanding informal mining sector.
Across parts of western Kenya, artisanal gold mining has become an economic lifeline for many unemployed young people and struggling households. Yet the work is frequently carried out with minimal protective equipment, weak structural reinforcement and little formal oversight.
Local authorities have acknowledged the dangers, particularly during the current rainy season when waterlogged and unstable soil dramatically increases the likelihood of cave-ins.
Vincent Kanyang’onda, the Bondo Sub-County Administrator, urged miners to exercise extreme caution.
“The soil is unstable and the risks are very high during this rainy season,” he warned.
Meanwhile, grieving relatives have appealed for urgent intervention from both county and national authorities, saying local rescue efforts have been overwhelmed by the scale of the collapse.
“We need specialised equipment and trained personnel,” one family member pleaded.
“We cannot do this alone.”
As rescue teams continue battling unstable ground in the hope of recovering the victims, the collapse has cast a harsh spotlight on the human cost of Kenya’s informal gold rush — where desperation, danger and poverty often lie just beneath the surface.