A gold mine collapse in Sudan has killed at least 82 people and injured another 50, according to AFP, with an unknown number of miners still trapped underground as rescue efforts continue.
The incident occurred at al-Zara, an artisanal gold mine in West Kordofan state, where a series of adjoining mining shafts collapsed.
Rescue operations began on Tuesday evening, with crews initially recovering 60 bodies from the site.
By Wednesday morning, the death toll had risen to 82, while another 50 people were injured, according to the latest AFP report.
A spokesperson for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which controls the area, says rescue efforts are continuing.
“There is an unknown number of people still trapped under the rubble and rescue efforts are being conducted with rudimentary methods,” the spokesperson tells AFP.
Rescue efforts hampered
The Kordofan Observatory, a local rights group, tells Reuters that one survivor emerged from the mine on Tuesday and that others were believed to still be alive underground.
Citing witnesses, the group says no specialised rescue teams had reached the site, while fragile, sandy ground conditions were hampering attempts by local residents to reach the trapped miners using basic tools.
Local sources attributed the high death toll at the remote mine to inadequate safety procedures and a lack of rescue equipment, according to Reuters.
One miner who had been working at the site tells AFP that the close proximity of the shafts increased the risk of a cascading collapse.
“The shafts here are all close together. If one collapses, it brings down all the ones next to it,” he said.
“There are people still trapped underground since yesterday. I don’t think they are alive.”
Artisanal mining grows amid Sudan war
Mine collapses are common across Sudan, including in the army-controlled north and east, where artisanal miners sometimes enter abandoned or decommissioned shafts in search of gold.
The practice has become increasingly widespread since fighting erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF.
Sudan’s gold industry has remained an important source of revenue during the conflict, with both sides relying on the country’s gold trade to help finance their operations.
Write to Jackson Chen at Mining.com.au
Main image: Global Environment Facility
