Rescue teams work to extract trapped miners from collapsed illegal gold mine in western Central African Republic as death toll expected to rise significantly
At least 30 miners were killed Tuesday morning when an illegal gold mine collapsed in western Central African Republic, burying dozens of workers in the depths of the shaft. The disaster occurred in the Abba area of Nana-Mambéré prefecture, near the border with Cameroon.
Local mining associations estimate the final death toll could surpass 100 people. The mine, where workers operated without proper safety equipment, collapsed suddenly and trapped dozens of laborers who had no time to escape.
Rescue teams and local residents have worked for hours in desperate attempts to extract those buried underground. Eyewitnesses described harrowing scenes of young miners covered in mud, working without adequate equipment as they tried to save their colleagues from the deep pit.
Deputy prefect Souleymane Bi issued an urgent appeal for assistance: "This is terrible and we are calling for help from organizations and all people of good will to help extract from the pit those who cannot do it themselves." Miner Florian Gaguanda, who survived the collapse, said rescuers continue searching for additional missing persons, but acknowledged that "the chances of finding them alive are diminishing" as time passes.
Government spokesman Evariste Ngamana announced that authorities are "working vigorously to provide aid and assistance" to victims and their families, though logistical challenges in the remote region are hampering rescue efforts.
Such accidents occur frequently in the Central African Republic, where thousands of residents engage in informal, unregulated manual mining under dangerous conditions. The absence of safety standards and government oversight at local mining sites has led in recent years to a series of deadly collapses that have increased casualty numbers in mining areas.
Unregulated mining has become a primary source of livelihood for thousands of families in the country's rural regions, but the human cost is severe. Many miners work without basic safety equipment, without proper shaft supports, and without engineering supervision of underground structural stability.
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