Three people died and four others were injured Saturday when a mining pit caved in at Enyim Agalegu community in Ebonyi State, local leaders said, amid reports of unregulated operations in the area.
The collapse occurred on a site under the mining lease of First Patriots Limited, formerly known as Royal Salt, where illegal activities were allegedly taking place, according to community sources.
Collins Oboke, national chairperson of the Enyim Agalegu Edukwu Opeke Federated Union, described the frantic rescue effort after a distress call reached him around 4:00 pm. “We evacuated some overburden on top of some lifeless people, like three of them, and we rescued about four that were injured,” he told reporters at the scene on Sunday.
Oboke said he immediately mobilised residents to the pit after receiving the alert.
Ebonyi State authorities have yet to issue an official statement on the tragedy or confirm any regulatory breaches at the site.
