At least 67 people died after a collapse at the al-Zara gold mine in the town of Nuhud in Sudan’s West Kordofan province, a medical group and survivors said Wednesday, according to France 24.
Survivors said the collapse occurred late Tuesday at a mine containing several shafts. Al-Amin Suliman, a miner, said people remained trapped inside. Another survivor, Khairal-Sayed Gabara, described the collapse as “massive” and said machinery needed to remove soil and rubble was not readily available.
The medical group said the death toll could rise because search and rescue operations were still underway. Responders were looking for survivors and people trapped beneath the debris, while many individuals remained unaccounted for.
The mine is in an area controlled by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The RSF has been fighting the country’s military for more than three years, according to the report, adding security and access difficulties to the emergency response in the remote area.
Sudan is a major gold producer, but mine collapses are common because of poor safety standards, France 24 reported. The outlet cited previous incidents, including a collapse in 2023 that killed 14 miners and another in 2021 that killed 38.
The circumstances of the latest collapse and the final number of victims were not established in the supplied report. Rescue operations were continuing at the time of publication.