Mostly Women Among 48 Killed As Illegally Operated Gold Mine Collapses In Mali

New Delhi: At least 48 people, mostly women, were killed after an illegally operated gold mine collapsed in Mali, AFP reported quoting local authorities and police.

“The toll till now is 48 dead following the collapse. Some of the victims fell into the water. Among them was a woman with her baby on her back,” said a police source on Saturday night, hours after the disaster.

Confirming the cave-at Kenieba, in the gold-rich Kayes region, the local gold miners’ association also put the death toll at 48.

The search for victims continued through Saturday night and Sunday, the head of an environmental organisation told AFP.

The accident took place at an abandoned site, which was formerly operated by a Chinese company.

Mali, a western African country, is one of the continent’s leading gold producers.

Authorities have struggled to control unregulated mining of the precious metal in a country which is among the world’s poorest.

Many of these mining sites have seen deadly landslides and accidents.

Last month only, a landslide at a gold mine in southern Mali killed at least 10 people and left many others missing, most of them women.

Last year, a tunnel collapsed at a gold mining site in the same region as Saturday’s landslide, killing more than 70 people.