A laborer contracted to clear excess mud from a 60-foot borehole in Santasi Adjamasu, Ashanti Region, has died after falling into the shaft on Wednesday morning.

Eyewitnesses reported that the worker was inside the deep, narrow borehole around 10 a.m. when he began struggling to breathe due to intense heat and poor ventilation.

In an attempt to climb out, he reportedly lost strength, slipped, and fell to the bottom, sustaining a fatal head injury.

Residents immediately raised the alarm, prompting a combined rescue operation involving community members and emergency responders.

Rescue teams battled the depth and muddy conditions for nearly nine hours before retrieving the victim around 7 p.m. He was pronounced dead upon extraction.

Police have visited the scene, and the body has been taken to a morgue as investigations into the incident begin.