Agencies | Khartum:
At least 70 people have been killed after a gold mine collapsed in Sudan’s West Kordofan state, with dozens of miners feared trapped underground, according to local monitoring and medical groups.
The collapse occurred on Tuesday at the Al-Zaraa gold mine near Al-Nuhud, where a series of adjoining mining shafts gave way, the Kordofan Observatory monitoring group said on Wednesday.
The group said artisanal miners were among those killed and that several others remained trapped beneath the rubble. With no specialised rescue teams deployed to the site, local residents have been attempting to reach survivors using rudimentary tools amid loose and sandy soil.
A source from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which controls the area, put the death toll at at least 82, with around 50 others injured, according to AFP. The source, speaking anonymously, said an unknown number of people were still trapped and rescue operations were continuing with limited equipment.
Khair al-Sayyed Jabara, a survivor, told AFP that he and other miners worked through the night using basic tools to search for survivors, stressing that heavy machinery was urgently needed.
“We don’t know how many more are still inside,” he said.
Survivors and local sources have raised concerns over the lack of basic safety measures at the mining site.
Another miner, Amin Suleiman, said the shafts had been constructed so closely together that the collapse of one triggered the failure of neighbouring shafts.
Local sources told Reuters that the high number of casualties was linked to a lack of adequate safety procedures and rescue equipment.
The Sudan Doctors Network, a Khartoum-based medical group, said search and rescue efforts were continuing and warned that the casualty figure could increase. It said the site lacked basic safeguards for workers.
West Kordofan is controlled by the RSF, which has been fighting Sudan’s army since April 2023. Gold has emerged as an important source of revenue for armed groups during the conflict, with informal and illicit gold trading playing a significant role in the wartime economy.
The Sudan Doctors Network said mining in areas controlled by the RSF, without adequate safety standards or rescue equipment, poses a direct threat to civilians.
It called for search operations to continue and urged authorities to provide medical and logistical assistance, while also calling for an end to unregulated mining practices.
Sudan is among Africa’s major gold producers, but a significant share of its production comes from informal and often hazardous mining operations at abandoned, unofficial or poorly regulated sites. The absence of proper safety equipment and emergency response capacity has repeatedly exposed artisanal miners to serious risks.
