The owners of excavators that were helping in the rescue mission at Abimbo mine tragedy in Bondo, Siaya county has withdrawn the machines after failing to free the eighth person identified as Tom Okwach.
The owners of the machines that had hired it to the county government opted to withdraw from the mission on realising that the ground was slowly sinking and it would be impossible to bring the machine out.
According to Siaya County disaster Director George Aola, the owners of the machines hired for the business decided to withdraw after the fourteenth day of the search.
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"It's true that the two excavators are no longer in the site. The owners say the machines are needed to run other operations after being at Abimbo mineshaft for the 14 days," Aola stated adding that up to now the eighth person is still trapped.
"We shall rely on our indigenous expertise to help in the rescue mission," Aola said noting that they have not lost hope yet.
He said that they will use the usual tools used by gold artisans on their daily expedition to help them retrieve the trapped artisan.
In the meantime, the family of the miner Collins Otieno Ongonga who lost his life from the shaft have defied the traditions and are now planning to bury him on Saturday, December 18.
The family said they decided to bury their kin to avert increasing bill at the morgue.
"We have decided as a family to bury him on Saturday because we cannot hold anymore for we don't know the day the last person will be found," they said.
Six people who were part of eight persons trapped two weeks ago were rescued alive with minor injuries and have been discharged from the hospital.
