Gold panning sites are regularly the scene of deadly landslides, the activity is dangerous and authorities struggle to control artisanal mining of the metal.
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More than 70 people were killed in a gallery collapse at a gold panning site in Mali’s southwest on Friday January 19, a tragedy of rare magnitude in a Sahelian region regularly prone to accidents at mines. “It started with a noise. The earth started shaking. There were over 200 gold prospectors on the ground. The search is now over. We found 73 bodies.”, Oumar Sidibé, a gold prospector in Kangaba, told AFP. The number of victims was confirmed by a local elected official.
In a press release published on Tuesday, January 23, the Ministry of Mines mentioned the death of several gold miners without giving an exact figure. The government presented “His deepest condolences to the bereaved families and the Malian people.”
He invited “Communities living near mining sites and gold miners should respect safety requirements and work only in areas dedicated to gold panning.” Mali, one of the world’s poorest countries, is one of the leading gold producers in Africa.
