Six persons have been reported dead as mining pit collapsed on Tuesday at Zawan Community in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau.

Mr Gwottson Fom, Member representing Jos South Constituency in the State House of Assembly confirmed the incident.

Fom said that the ages of the victims ranged from 20 to 27, describing the incident as “sad and unfortunate.’’

A correspondent, who visited the area reports that many others sustained injury in the incident.

The lawmaker noted that the victims died engaging in illegal activity.

“We know that these young persons died carrying out an illegal activity but it is obvious unemployment led them into doing it.

“People go out of their way to do things considered illegal just to fend for themselves and their families.

“This is not time to apportion blames but it is sad and unfortunate that a community will lose six youths in a day,’’ he said.

Fom called on illegal miners to desist from the act and engage in other acceptable ventures.

“If people must engage in mining activities, they should do it the right way. They must ensure they are licensed to do it,’’ he advised.

Earlier, Mr Emmanuel Gyang, an eye witness and Youth Leader in the community confirmed that the incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon.

Gyang described the incident as devastating, saying that it was the first of such incident in the community.

According to him, over 50 persons were inside the mining pit when it collapsed on them, while others were rescued with various degrees of injuries.

“This is the first time we are experiencing such ugly incident in this community

“It is a devastating situation; losing six youths in one day is really sad and a monumental loss,’’ he said.

Gyang said that the corpses had been buried, while the injured were currently receiving treatment at Our Lady of Apostles Hospital, Zawan