According to a government official, a basic gold mine collapsed in Sudan on Tuesday, killing at least 31 laborers and leaving eight others missing.
According to Khaled Dahwa, the head of the state-run Mineral Resources Company in West Kordofan, the tragedy occurred in Nuhud, a town roughly 500 kilometers (310 miles) west of Khartoum.
“Thirty-one traditional miners were killed because of a mine collapsing,” he told AFP, adding one person survived and eight others were still missing.
Another official at the company said four miners were killed at the same mine in January.
“Authorities at the time shut down the mine and installed security but a couple of months ago they left,” he said.
Because of the country’s poor infrastructure, artisanal gold mining is a risky business in Sudan.
It grew in popularity roughly a decade ago in various sections of the country, with people excavating the ground with excavators in the hopes of finding the valuable metal.
According to government data, about two million artisanal miners contribute around 80% of the country’s yearly gold production of around 80 tonnes.
Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries, has recently experienced runaway inflation and has implemented difficult economic reforms, including the elimination of fuel and diesel subsidies and the implementation of a controlled currency float.
It is also dealing with political turmoil following the October 25 coup headed by military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
