Bamako: At least 48 people were killed in the collapse of an illegally driven gold mine in Western Mali on Saturday, authorities and local sources told AFP.
Mali is one of Africa’s leading gold producers, and mining places are regularly the scene of deadly landslides and accidents.
Authorities have struggled to control unregulated mining of precious metal in the country, which is among the world’s poorest.
“The tax at 1800 today is 48 dead after the collapse,” said a police source.
“Some of the victims fell into the water. Among them was a woman with her baby on her back.”
A local official confirmed the cave, while Kenieba Gold Miners’ Association also set the death toll of 48. The search for the victims was underway, the head of an environmental organization told AFP.
Saturday’s accident took place in an abandoned place previously run by a Chinese company told sources AFP.
In January, a landslide killed a gold mine in southern Mali at least 10 people, leaving many others missing, most of them women.
Just over a year ago, a tunnel collapsed on a gold mining stage in the same region as Saturday’s landslide and killed more than 70 people.
