Stone Minners in Busiba stone quarry in Nakisunga subcounty Mukono district are in tears, after one of their workmate died when a stone quarry caved in.
Witnesses say the incident occurred at
around 9am, when Robert Waswa who died instantly and Musana Emanuel, were were quarrying stones at the bottom of a cliff.
“The cliff collapsed on them and one died on the spot, the other one survived with injuries after being rescued by his workmates”, said the quarry workers.
It took over four hours for the rescuers to to retrieve the body from the stone debris, as they were using hand hoes and spades.
The Busiba local area difense secretary Kaddu Matiya revealed that they visited the quarry earlier and warned the workers against operating near the cliff.
“We warned them against digging below a weak cliff because it puts their lives at risk, they dont not want to collaborate with the village leadership, they don’t register workers in village committee,” Mr. Matiya said.
According to workers in the quarry, said that the cliff could have caved in due to the earthquake and rain that occurred in the previous night.
Over thousands of residents in the villages in Wankoba parish in Nakisunga sub county, depend on these stone quarries given the high demand of such materials in the construction sector.
These, however, pose a serious threat to the miners and the occupants in the villages due to the blasts that create cracks in their houses.
Mukono police picked the body of the deceased and drove it to Kawolo Hospital mortuary for postmortem.