At least 60 dead in Sudan gold mine collapse... Rescue difficulties amidst civil war

(Johannesburg = Yonhap News) Correspondent Na Confirmation = A gold mine collapsed again in Sudan, which has been in a civil war for four years, killing at least 60 miners, AFP reported on the 16th (local time).

The accident occurred the day before when shafts collapsed one after another at the Aljara gold mine near El Nahoud, West Kordofan Province, Sudan.

According to survivors, 60 bodies had been recovered by this morning, and many miners are believed to be still trapped under the rubble.

Xinhua News Agency reported that the death toll was at least 63.

"We still don't know how many more people are inside," Khair al-Sayed Jabara, a survivor who participated in an overnight rescue operation using mining equipment with fellow miners, told AFP. "We are working hard to get survivors or bodies out, but it is difficult. We need heavy equipment to remove stones and dirt."

However, AFP reported that West Kordofan Province is an area controlled by the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF), making large-scale rescue operations virtually impossible.

Sudan has relied heavily on gold as a key means of securing foreign currency since South Sudan, which previously accounted for 75% of crude oil production, became independent in 2011.

However, gold mining is mostly done on a small scale that relies on manual labor, and accidents are frequent due to outdated equipment and poor safety standards.

In particular, in April 2023, a civil war broke out between the government army and the RSF, and both sides used a significant portion of their military funds from the gold industry, and smuggling exports became rampant, further deteriorating the mining environment.

Last July, a mine shaft collapsed at the Mohammed Tawfiq mine in Wadi Halfa near the Egyptian border, killing 15 people, and in January, a closed mine in Um Fakrun, South Kordofan Province collapsed, killing 13 people, including a miner who was secretly working inside.