Breathing Death: Health Experts warn of looming crisis as toxic air in illegal mining kills and sickens miners

Pankrono, Ashanti Region:  For 15 years, Abass Salifu toiled deep beneath the ground in illegal mining sites here around Kumasi. The work paid well. He built two houses and provided comfortably for his wife and two children. In 2025 however, everything changed. He started coughing endlessly. Soon, he was coughing blood. By January 2026, Salifu passed away. “I wish I had never mined,” he told this reporter in December, speaking in Twi. Salifu laboured to breathe, and to control his emotions...

By Isaac Yeboah