Sudan gold mine collapse: At least 14 dead, several missing
More than a dozen workers are dead and several are missing after a gold mine collapsed in northern Sudan, authorities said Friday.
The incident happened after one of the hillsides surrounding the Jebel Al-Ahmar gold mine collapsed Thursday afternoon, officials with the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company, a state-run operation, said in a short statement.
The general manager of the mining company confirmed the death of 14 miners, saying in a statement shared on social media they had died “in an unfortunate accident.”
Jebel Al-Ahmar is located near the Egyptian border.
Moataz Hajj, a spokesperson for the mining company, said Friday that a search-and-rescue operation managed to free at least 20 trapped miners.
The dead were taken to the nearby town of Wadi Halfa, where they have since been buried.
Witnesses said the collapse was caused by heavy machinery used by miners to search for gold inside mining wells, according to a report published by Sudan’s state-run news agency SUNA.
The northeast African nation of 46 million is a major gold producer, with a record production of more than 18 tons of the precious metal in 2022, according to the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company.
About half of the country’s gold is smuggled out of the country, with proceeds often used to finance internal conflicts, African News reported.
Gold mine collapses are common in Sudan due to poor maintenance and low safety standards.
In late 2021, the collapse of a defunct mine about 435 miles south of the capital of Khartoum led to the death of at least 38 people. Four miners were reportedly killed at that same mine earlier that year.
With News Wire Services
