The Assistant Public Relations Officer of Earl International Group Gold Ghana limited, Albert Azongo has dismissed media reports suggesting that an accident at the underground mining area of the company resulted in the death of Maxwell Zong, a drilling assistant of the company.
According to the reports, Maxwell was allegedly killed by smoke from the scheduled blast of ore done by the company, when he and others were trapped underground while carrying out their duties.
Maxwell Zong who was rushed to the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga was declared dead by the medical team on October 22, 2025 and the cause of death is yet to be established.
In response to the media reports, Albert Azongo stated that there is no established fact or evidence that the death was caused by smoke or gas inhalation.
In an interview on A1radio monitored by 3news.com, Albert Azongo said ” The deceased worker was assigned together with his colleagues in a gang to a working area in the morning. He was not alone. By about 10:30am they moved to the station or waiting area to wait for the cage or elevator to arrive for them to surface. While waiting for the cage to arrive in the company of his colleagues, the deceased was seen suddenly falling off from where he was sitting. A colleague who was sitting next to him quickly held him while the others rushed to support. The emergency alarm was raised, and he was within the shortest possible time attended to by a combined team of safety officers and a medical officer at the company and rushed to the hospital,” Azongo explained.
He continued: “As a company, the death of Maxwell in the manner it happened made it absolutely necessary for us to know what caused his sudden death for the purposes of establishing the truth and also to guide matters of compensation according to the law. Unfortunately, the family wrote to us turning down the request and stating their reasons for not wanting an autopsy conducted. It had to do with their belief and values as a family.”
He described as “unfounded” the claims that the deceased was killed by smoke from the ore blast.
“So, for anyone to conclude and report that he was killed by smoke, it is unfounded. It is also not true that the deceased was asked to go underground shortly after the blast, as reported in the media. Blasts are conducted only at night between 7pm and 10pm. The deceased was for the morning shift and went underground at 7am,” he added.
According to the company, efforts are being made in collaboration with the deceased family to ascertain the true cause of death and that the speculations going round about the smoke-related death is not accurate due to the high standards of safety precautions undertaken by the company.
He emphasised that there is no way such accident can occur looking at how disciplined underground workers are when it comes to safety.
By Tanko Mohammed Rabiu
