Dozens Killed in CAR Mine Collapse
Friday 22 August 2014 - 7:22pm
BANGUI - At least 25 people died when a gold mine collapsed near the Central African Republic town of Bambari, a spokesman for the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels which run the mine said on Friday.
The mine at Ndassima is carved deep into a forested hilltop about 60 kilometres north of Seleka's military headquarters in Bambari.
It is owned by Canada's Axmin but was overrun by rebels more than a year ago and now forms part of an illicit economy driving sectarian conflict in the country.
At least 27 artisanal miners were buried in the collapse of the mine on Thursday and 25 bodies have been retrieved, Ahmat Negat, the rebel group's spokesman, said.
The mine collapse is the latest setback for the country, which has been beset by sectarian violence between the Seleka and Christian militia for over a year.
Newly installed interim Prime Minister Mahamat Kamoun named a government with five Seleka cabinet members on Friday in a bid to help stabilise the mineral-rich country.
A senior official at the Ministry of Mines confirmed the mine collapse and casualties. He said the mine did not follow regulations and miners were working in dangerous conditions.
"Nobody from our service is on the ground to regulate the miners so they dig without any rules.
Lower than three metres it gets dangerous and with rain there can be collapses," said the official, Georges Yacinth-Oubaouba.
At Ndassima, labourers toil under the gaze of Seleka gunmen to produce some 15 kilos of gold a month.
This is worth roughly $350,000 on the local market, or double that in international trade.
Axmin suspended activity at the mine in late 2012 after rebels occupied its camp.
The company has said since then that it was monitoring the situation at the mine.
There was no immediate comment from the company.
-Reuters
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| Central African Republic mine collapse on Aug. 21, 2014. |
BANGUI - At least 25 people died when a gold mine collapsed near the Central African Republic town of Bambari, a spokesman for the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels which run the mine said on Friday.
The mine at Ndassima is carved deep into a forested hilltop about 60 kilometres north of Seleka's military headquarters in Bambari.
It is owned by Canada's Axmin but was overrun by rebels more than a year ago and now forms part of an illicit economy driving sectarian conflict in the country.
At least 27 artisanal miners were buried in the collapse of the mine on Thursday and 25 bodies have been retrieved, Ahmat Negat, the rebel group's spokesman, said.
The mine collapse is the latest setback for the country, which has been beset by sectarian violence between the Seleka and Christian militia for over a year.
Newly installed interim Prime Minister Mahamat Kamoun named a government with five Seleka cabinet members on Friday in a bid to help stabilise the mineral-rich country.
A senior official at the Ministry of Mines confirmed the mine collapse and casualties. He said the mine did not follow regulations and miners were working in dangerous conditions.
"Nobody from our service is on the ground to regulate the miners so they dig without any rules.
Lower than three metres it gets dangerous and with rain there can be collapses," said the official, Georges Yacinth-Oubaouba.
At Ndassima, labourers toil under the gaze of Seleka gunmen to produce some 15 kilos of gold a month.
This is worth roughly $350,000 on the local market, or double that in international trade.
Axmin suspended activity at the mine in late 2012 after rebels occupied its camp.
The company has said since then that it was monitoring the situation at the mine.
There was no immediate comment from the company.
-Reuters
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