🔶 At least 60 killed in gold mine collapse in Sudan

Reuters news agency, on Wednesday, 25 Shahrivar (16 September), citing three local sources, reported that at least 60 people died as a result of a gold mine collapse on Sunday, 13 September, in a remote area in the north of the key city of Al-Nehud in Sudan’s West Kordofan state.

Sudan is one of Africa’s largest gold producers, but much of the country’s gold is extracted using dangerous, traditional methods and then smuggled out of the country.

Local sources said the high number of victims in this remote area was due to the lack of safety measures and rescue equipment at the mine’s temporary shafts.

West Kordofan is under the control of the rebel paramilitary forces “Rapid Support,” and gold mining is considered one of the main sources of income for these forces. The paramilitary group is fighting in Sudan’s civil war against the country’s army.