Dozens of illegal miners were feared on Monday to be trapped in a pit that caved in when they were digging for gold in eastern Ghana, according to witnesses.
A combined rescue effort led by the police in conjunction with Newmont and Ghanaian-South African mining company Anglogold Ashanti was under way on Monday.
The police said they do not know how many people are trapped inside the pit.
The accident occurred last Thursday in Nyanfoman-Noyem town in a concession belonging to United States mining giant Newmont, where up to 80 illegal miners were digging for gold, they said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people have arrived in Nyanfoman-Noyem in search of their relatives.
Illegal mining for gold and diamond is a lucrative business in Ghana.
A number of towns in Ghana are being gradually dug up as illegal miners search for the precious minerals.
They often encroach on the concessions of registered mining companies and clash with their security personnel, resulting in injuries and sometimes even death.
The Ghanaian government has been working to normalise their situation by giving them their own concessions. — Sapa-DPA