At least 100 dead in gold mine collapse in Central Africa (local sources)

At least 100 people were killed in a landslide at a traditionally operated gold mine in western Central African Republic, near the border with Cameroon, local sources told AFP on Wednesday.

Several sources indicated that around 100 people were killed and many others injured in the incident, which occurred on Tuesday at the Zamboui gold mine, approximately 50 kilometers from the town of Bafia in the Central African Republic.

Laurent Ngoun Baba, the deputy representing Bafia, told AFP on Wednesday, “At this stage, it is difficult for us to make an official assessment.”

At least four Cameroonian nationals were killed in the incident, according to the state-owned newspaper Cameroon Tribune.

The public prosecutor’s office in Bafia announced in a statement that an investigation had been opened. It said the accident was caused by “the collapse of several underground tunnels where miners were working.”

Landslides are common in the Central African Republic’s mines, which are rich in soil and often exploited illegally.

In mid-June, a similar collapse killed dozens at a gold mine in the Nana-Mambere prefecture, on the border with Cameroon.