At least 100 people may have died after gold mine collapsed in Central African Republic

Gold Mine Collapse in Central African Republic Leaves at Least 100 Dead

Scale of the Disaster

Poinews.com – A landslide struck the Zamboye gold mining site on Tuesday, killing an estimated minimum of 100 workers, according to local sources who spoke to the AFP news agency. The site sits close to the border between the Central African Republic and Cameroon. Rescue crews remained active at the location as of Wednesday.

What Triggered the Collapse

The public prosecutor for Baboua attributed the disaster to the failure of multiple underground tunnels where miners had been working at the time. Social media videos captured the moment a massive section of earth tore loose from the mine’s face and cascaded down onto a crowd of workers below, entombing several of them.

Voices from the Scene

Laurent Ngon Baba, an elected representative from the town of Baboua, acknowledged to AFP on Wednesday that confirming an official death count remained challenging at that point.

“At this stage it’s difficult for us to establish a formal toll.”

A miner present at the site used the word “catastrophic” to describe what unfolded.

“The ground completely collapsed and buried people.”

Cross-Border Response

Gregoire Mvongo, governor of Cameroon’s eastern region, addressed the situation on CRTV radio, confirming that his government was coordinating directly with its Central African counterpart in the wake of the tragedy.

“working in close collaboration with our Central African colleagues to deal with the aftermath of this tragedy.”