KHARTOUM, Sudan: More than 60 workers were killed when an unlicensed desert gold mine collapsed in an area of Sudan’s Darfur where hundreds died in fighting over the precious commodity in January-February, the district chief said yesterday.
It was not known how many people may still be missing after Monday’s accident in Jebel Amir district, more than 200 kilometres northwest of the North Darfur state capital El Fasher.
Production from unofficial gold mines has become a key revenue source for Sudan’s cash-strapped government.
It is also a tempting but dangerous occupation for residents of Sudan’s poverty-stricken western region of Darfur which has been devastated by a decade of civil war.
“The number of people who died is more than 60,” said Haroun Al Hassan, local commissioner for Jebel Amir.
AFP
