Authorities reported on Thursday that a landslip at a gold mine in southern Mali had killed about ten people and left numerous more missing, the majority of whom were women.
Mali is one of Africa’s top producers of gold. Authorities find it difficult to regulate artisanal gold mining, and gold mining locations frequently experience fatal landslides.
The Koulikoro region’s governorate posted on Facebook that “a landslip trapped a group of gold miners, the majority of whom were women” in the village of Danga, where the disaster occurred on Wednesday.
“They were trapped in a hole, submerged in muddy water that wreaked devastation,” the report continued.
“Unfortunately, none of them were able to escape.”
There were “several casualties” from the landslip, according to the statement.
The regional mining department director, Ousmane Diakite, told AFP that the preliminary death toll was “about 10 dead and some missing.”
A significantly greater death toll was suggested by messages that circulated on social media.
“What’s certain is that there are no survivors,” the mayor of a nearby town stated, asking to remain anonymous to talk more freely.
The governorate’s and social media users’ photos depict a large open-air location with upturned ground and holes filled with muddy water.
The pictures show excavators below and guys standing on the brink of one of the pits.
The governorate declared that “no bodies could be recovered” because of the hazardous circumstances.
“A mechanical excavator was submerged in murky waters, but the search is still ongoing at the location,” he continued.
In the same area as last week’s landslip, a tunnel collapsed at a gold mining facility in January 2024, killing around 70 people.
