Buried alive for a handful of shillings: Why Machakos miners keep returning to killer quarries

Barely a week after a sand mine buried Amos Nzyoka and Hassan Idi alive on the outskirts of Muthwani Township in Machakos County, operations resumed at the deadly quarry. The two were among five residents mining sand when the disaster struck. When Healthy Nation visited, three survivors of the recent collapse were already back at work, toiling at the quarry overlooking Ngando Hills.

For Joseph Mwanthi, it was the second time he had survived a similar accident. "We are devastated. But we have to return to sand mining because we have no other source of livelihood. Sand is our cash crop," he told Healthy Nation.

And on Thursday, a sand miner died in a quarry at Kwamboo, Masinga Sub-county, in the latest sand mining accident. Kithambioni Assistant Chief Onesmus Musyoka confirmed the incident, saying the quarry, locally known as nguu, collapsed and buried the youthful miner alive.

The tragedies are the latest in a county that banks heavily on sand trade to boost its own-source revenue. Much of the sand mining here involves desperate young men who dig up farmlands and rangelands for a special type of sand, later blended with riparian sand to enhance its market value. After excavating vertically, the miners burrow horizontally under thick layers of earth, exposing themselves to immense danger. Their struggle to dig themselves out of poverty often ends in death or injury when a mine collapses under the weight of the soil above, along with lasting environmental degradation.

Also read: 60 mine accident deaths recorded

Survivors of sand-mining accidents recount harrowing tales. Mwanthi believes the Muthwani collapse could have been far worse. "No one saw the quarry collapsing. There was no distress call. It took a split second; a deafening rumble from the collapsing quarry, and a cloud of dust hung in the air for a long time. The mine collapsed barely five minutes after a sand truck drove out," he said.

When the dust settled, Wambua Nzyoka had lost his younger brother, Amos. He himself was lucky to be alive. He had stepped out of the quarry just moments before the disaster struck.

According to Muthwani Assistant Chief Boniface Matheka, the deaths of Amos and Hassan brought to six the number of residents killed in sand-mining accidents since January. A spot check by Healthy Nation revealed that at least 16 Machakos residents have died in similar incidents over the past year. Among them were three miners buried alive when a sand mine collapsed at Isyukoni Village, near Ekalakala Township in Masinga Constituency, in April.