At least 100 people are believed to have died after a landslide engulfed an illegal artisanal gold mine in the western Central African Republic on Tuesday. The collapse struck the Zamboyé mining area, roughly 50 kilometres from the town of Baboua near the border with Cameroon, burying miners alive when the ground gave way.
Rescue crews and local residents have so far recovered 30 bodies from the rubble, said Souleymane Bi, deputy mayor of the Nana-Mambéré prefecture, while search operations continue. Initial reports had put the toll at around 30 before local sources revised the figure sharply higher.
Mining accidents are common in the Central African Republic, where thousands work in informal sites with little heavy machinery. A similar collapse in June killed dozens at the Be-Mbari gold mine, also on the Cameroonian border.