At least 82 people have died in a Sudan gold mine collapse, with dozens missing as rescuers battle rubble, fragile ground and limited equipment…reports Africa Daily News Desk
At least 82 people have been killed in a gold mine collapse in Sudan’s West Kordofan, with dozens more feared trapped as rescuers struggle to search the site with almost no heavy equipment.
The collapse at the al-Zara gold mine near Nuhud has become one of the latest tragedies in Sudan’s informal mining sector, where workers often operate in dangerous conditions with limited safety measures.
The accident happened in an area controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been fighting Sudan’s military since war erupted in April 2023.
Suleiman Abu Hmeida, a member of the Emergency Response Rooms, said 82 bodies had been recovered by Wednesday afternoon. Dozens of people were still unaccounted for, he said.
A local administration official separately confirmed that 82 bodies had been recovered. The official said the collapse began in one shaft on Sunday before spreading to interconnected shafts.
Rescue efforts have been severely hampered by a lack of machinery. The official said only one privately owned forklift was available to help remove rubble and search for survivors.
The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Survivor Khairal-Sayed Gabara described the scale of the collapse as severe and said rescuers did not have the equipment needed to reach workers trapped more than 30 metres underground.
He said dozens of people had been working at the mine when the collapse occurred.
Another survivor, Al-Amin Suliman, said people were still believed to be trapped underground as rescue workers continued efforts to recover bodies and search for survivors.
The Sudan Doctors Network had earlier reported that 67 bodies had been recovered, warning that the death toll could rise as the operation continued. The medical group said the mine lacked basic safety and protective measures.
The Kordofan Observatory, a monitoring group, also reported that at least 70 miners had been killed or were missing. It said the mine stretches for more than a kilometre across fragile, sandy ground.
The differing early estimates reflected the difficulty of assessing casualties at the remote site, but local officials and activists later put the confirmed death toll at 82.
Sudan is one of Africa’s major gold producers, but much of its production comes from small-scale and informal operations. Deadly mine collapses have occurred repeatedly in recent years.
A mine collapse in 2023 killed 14 miners, while another accident in 2021 claimed 38 lives. Poor safety standards and the absence of protective equipment have long posed risks to workers in the sector.
The latest disaster comes as Sudan remains engulfed in a devastating conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces. The fighting has displaced millions of people and created severe humanitarian needs across the country.
Gold has also become increasingly important to the economics of the conflict. The RSF controls gold-producing areas in parts of Darfur and Kordofan, while United Nations-commissioned experts have reported that large quantities of Sudanese gold have been smuggled out of the country.
The war has made access to many mining areas more difficult, while the collapse of state institutions and weakened regulation have added to the risks faced by informal workers.
According to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, the conflict has killed at least 59,000 people. Aid organisations have warned that the actual toll is likely to be considerably higher.
At the al-Zara mine, however, the immediate focus remains on the rescue operation. With dozens still potentially underground and only limited machinery available, families and fellow miners continue to wait for news from the rubble.
