Up to 100 Feared Dead in Central African Gold-Mine Collapse
As many as 100 people are feared dead after an illegal gold mine collapsed in the Central African Republic, officials and local sources said, though only about 30 bodies had been recovered by Wednesday and authorities cautioned that the toll was not yet confirmed. The landslide, blamed on the collapse of underground tunnels, struck the Zamboye mine near the Cameroon border. A judicial inquiry has been opened.
Artisanal mining, largely unregulated and often illegal, draws thousands of desperate labourers into unstable pits across central Africa, where collapses are common and death tolls hard to establish. That the recovered dead number about 30 while local estimates run to 100 reflects both the scale of the disaster and the difficulty of counting victims in a remote area with little official presence. Several of the dead were Cameroonian, underscoring how such mines pull in migrant workers from across the region. The tragedy will renew questions about oversight of a trade that enriches armed groups and traders while the diggers bear the risk. Watch whether the final toll is established and what enforcement follows.