Sudan gold mine collapse leaves six people dead, dozens missing

A gold-mine collapse in Sudan’s western region of Darfur killed six people and may have left more than 30 others trapped underground, a community leader said.

The disaster occurred last week at the informal mine in al-Sireaf, in North Darfur’s Jebel Amer region, and rescue efforts have been made, according to Ibrahim Abdullah, head of the state’s Shura Council of Arab tribes. Afia Darfur, an online radio station covering the region, cited eyewitness Mahmoud Hemdan as saying eight bodies have been recovered.

“No one knows the real number of miners that remain under the wreckage, but they are probably more than 30,” Abdullah said by phone from North Darfur’s state capital, El Fasher, about 175 kilometers (110 miles) east of the mine.

Sudan is boosting gold production to offset the loss of three-quarters of its oil output when South Sudan seceded in July 2011. The North African nation produced a record 73.3 metric tons of the metal last year, at least 85 percent of which was extracted by informal, or artisanal, miners, according to the Mining Ministry.

Wednesday 22 April 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-21/sudan-gold-mine-collapse-leaves-six-people-dead-dozens-missing