43-year-old woman dead while attempting to save 2 sons and family member from galamsey pit

A 43-year-old woman and three children have drowned in an abandoned galamsey pit at Wassa Dunkwa in the Wassa Amenfi West Municipality of the Western Region.

The deceased have been identified as Mary Arthur, a farmer, her two sons, Hayford Arthur, 11, and Richard Asabre, 14, as well as Eric Mensah, 11, another child in the family.

Mr Paul Kattah, Assembly Member for the Wassa Dunkwa Electoral Area, told the Ghana News Agency that the incident occurred on Saturday, February 28, 2026, when the family went to gather firewood near an illegal mining site.

He explained that after collecting the firewood, the three boys walked ahead, left the firewood by the roadside and decided to swim in the flooded pit before returning home.

According to Mr Kattah, a witness, another child who saw the boys struggling in the water, ran to inform their mother, who rushed to the scene.

The Assembly Member said when Madam Arthur arrived and saw the children in danger, she jumped into the water in an attempt to rescue them but also drowned.

The Asankragwa Divisional Police Command was informed and officers retrieved the four bodies, which were conveyed to the Father Thomas Alan Rooney Memorial Hospital in Asankragwa for preservation and autopsy.

Mr Kattah said: “I have visited Mr. Kofi Nipa, a mason and husband of the late Madam Mary Arthur and it’s a very difficult moment for him.

He is currently being supported by loved ones and the community to help him recover from the shock.”

The incident has reignited concerns over the dangers posed by abandoned illegal mining pits in communities across the Western Region.

Source: Graphic Online