More than 100 people are believed to have died after a landslide struck an illegal gold mine in the Central African Republic near the border with Cameroon, in one of the deadliest accidents yet in a country where such collapses have become tragically routine, AFP and Reuters reported.
Tunnels Gave Way Under a Crowded Site
The collapse happened on Tuesday afternoon at the Zamboye mining site, about 50 kilometres from the Central African town of Baboua, where hundreds of artisanal miners work an open-pit operation outside state control. Video footage shared on social media showed a section of the ground breaking away and sliding into a mass of people working below.
The Baboua public prosecutor said in a statement that the landslide is believed to have been caused by the collapse of several underground tunnels in which miners were operating, and announced that a judicial inquiry has been opened to establish the cause, identify victims and determine possible criminal liability.
‘It Is Difficult to Establish a Formal Toll’
Estimates of the death toll have varied as rescue work continues. A senior official at a local mining association told Reuters the collapse had claimed more than 100 lives, a figure also given to AFP by several local sources. A Red Cross volunteer involved in the relief effort told The Associated Press that more than 100 bodies had been recovered. Officials have cautioned that the number could still rise, with people believed to remain trapped beneath the rubble.
“At this stage it’s difficult for us to establish a formal toll,” Baboua elected official Laurent Ngon Baba told AFP. Cedric Mbango, a miner at the site, described the scene to AFP as catastrophic. “The ground completely collapsed and buried people,” he said, adding that others remained buried as rescue attempts continued.
A Cross-Border Toll
At least four of the victims were Cameroonian, according to the Cameroon Tribune, and authorities in Cameroon’s eastern region said they were working with counterparts in the Central African Republic to manage the aftermath. Gregoire Mvongo, governor of the eastern Cameroonian region bordering the mine, said on public radio that officials were coordinating closely with Central African authorities. Survivors were taken to hospital in Baboua as the search for the missing continued into Wednesday.
A local city official, Bertrand Be Yangue, told Al Jazeera that finding anyone still trapped alive would be “a miracle,” and said the community was heartbroken over the deaths of young people who had gone to the mine hoping to support their families.
A Recurring Danger
Landslides and tunnel collapses are common at informal mining sites in the Central African Republic, a mineral-rich but deeply unstable country where thousands of people work in small-scale gold extraction with little regulation or safety oversight. A similar collapse in June killed several dozen miners at the Be-Mbari gold site, also on the border with Cameroon, and further fatal incidents were recorded in March and February. Opposition leaders in both countries have renewed calls for tighter controls on artisanal mining following this week’s disaster.
