At least five people were killed and several others were missing after an informal gold mine collapsed in northern Kenya, officials and local media reported on Saturday.

The bodies of five miners have been recovered from the Hillo artisanal mine, and another three people were unaccounted for, regional commissioner Paul Rotich told Reuters by telephone late on Friday.

The collapse of the Hillo mine in the Dabel area near the Kenyan border with Ethiopia on Friday was attributed to a landslide. Marsabit County Police Commander Patrick Mwakio said the miners died on the spot after the debris covered them. No other miners have been found and it was not clear if anyone else was missing in the collapse.

“Reports from rescuers, police and our chiefs suggest at (least) eight casual miners were inside the mining ground when the walls collapsed and buried them alive,” Rotich said

Two injured miners were taken to hospital, Kenyan broadcaster NTV reported on Saturday morning.

“The place caved in because of the rains,” Marsabit county commissioner David Saruni told NTV.

“Reports from rescuers, police and our chiefs suggest at (least) eight casual miners were inside the mining ground when the walls collapsed and buried them alive,” Rotich said

“The place caved in because of the rains,” Marsabit county commissioner David Saruni told NTV.

Hundreds of people have been killed in floods and landslides across the country following weeks of torrential rains.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki in March declared the area disturbed and banned mining activities after clashes over a mining dispute led to the deaths of seven people.

The mining activities were also in violation of the law because no environmental impact assessment had been done, and the tunnels were described as weak and on the brink of cave-in. Residents told media outlets that mining had continued despite the March ban and blamed authorities for allowing it.

Mining had continued despite authorities closing the mine near the Ethiopian border in March, after several people were killed in clashes between local communities over access to the area, Citizen TV reported.

• A Tell / Reuters/AP report