At least 48 people have died after an illegally operated gold mine collapsed in western Mali, according to officials and local sources. Mali is one of Africa’s leading gold-producing countries, and accidents frequently occur at its mining sites.
Authorities in this impoverished nation, one of the world’s poorest, continue to struggle to control irregular mining of precious metals. “The death toll from the landslide has reached 48,” a police official said. “Some victims fell into the water, including a woman who had a child on her back.”
Local officials confirmed the mine collapse and said that the search for victims is ongoing. According to sources, Saturday’s accident occurred at a mine previously operated by a Chinese company.
In January, at least 10 people died, and several others went missing—most of them women—when a landslide struck a gold mine in southern Mali. Last year, more than 70 people died when a tunnel collapsed at another gold mine in the same region as Saturday’s landslide.
