At least 10 people were killed and 21 others injured after five artisanal mining shafts collapsed in Sudan’s eastern Red Sea state, while several miners remain trapped beneath the rubble, local Sudanese media reported on Sunday.
The accident occurred on Saturday in the Ouni area, northeast of Al-Ansari market, where dozens of miners from Darfur, Kassala and Red Sea states were working inside traditional mining shafts when they collapsed.
Witnesses said rescue teams had been unable to recover all of the bodies by Sunday morning because the shafts had completely caved in.
Excavators were continuing to clear debris in an effort to reach miners still missing underground and retrieve the bodies of those killed.
Witness Al-Nazir Abdullah Ibrahim said more than five of the victims were from Gereida and Al-Joghana, two towns about 90 kilometres south of Nyala in South Darfur. Other victims were from Kassala and Red Sea states.
Ahmed Mohammed Musa, a resident of Gereida, said several miners from the town were among those killed, identifying some as Osman Hussein Mohammed, Al-Mahi Omar Zakaria, Mubarak Dawoud and Haitham Adam.
Mourners have gathered in Gereida to receive condolences for miners from Gereida and Al-Joghana who died in the accident.
The collapse comes only days after dozens of miners were killed when artisanal mining shafts caved in at Al-Raqiq in West Kordofan. Dozens of others were reported missing beneath the debris following that disaster.
In July, around 12 miners were killed in another shaft collapse in the Dar Mali area of River Nile state in northern Sudan. Most of those victims were reportedly from South Darfur, White Nile and Kassala states.
Artisanal mining provides a vital source of income for thousands of young Sudanese and supports families across large parts of the country. However, miners frequently operate in poorly reinforced shafts with limited safety equipment, leaving workers vulnerable to deadly collapses.
