Rescuers were working to retrieve the injured and the bodies of the dead workers from a gold mine in a remote area of Sudan, on Wednesday, three days after it collapsed killing, at least, 32 people, a mining official said.
As of Wednesday morning, 32 bodies had been recovered from the mine in West Kordofan in addition to three people rescued with injuries, said Khaled Dahweya, director of the state-owned Sudanese Mineral Resources Company in West Darfur state.
The mine collapsed on Sunday evening when, according to witnesses, about 40 people were at a depth of more than 20 metres (65 feet), Dahweya said.
The accident happened in an area where unregulated mining often takes place with little regard for safety standards, he added.
Gold is Sudan’s most valuable export commodity but much of the precious metal is traded outside official channels, often for sale in Dubai.
Sudan has suffered from a long economic crisis making many people resort to risky artisanal mining in underdeveloped regions to make a living.
(Reuters/NAN).
