A gold mine collapsed in northern Sudan, killing 10 people and injuring at least 21, two survivors told AFP on Sunday following overnight rescue operations.
Since the outbreak of war in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, both sides have relied heavily on the gold sector to finance their war effort, according to the United Nations, in addition to support from external parties.
Mines in the Oni mining area in northern Sudan, near the Egyptian border, began collapsing on Saturday.
By Sunday morning, "10 bodies and 21 injured people had been recovered," said one survivor who worked at the site and requested anonymity for security reasons.
Another survivor, who also requested anonymity, told AFP that "the digging was being done with the available equipment at the mine and by the people working there."
The two survivors reported that the search was continuing, with fears that more victims might be found. The conflict has severely damaged Sudan’s already fragile economy, leaving many Sudanese jobless and driving many to engage in dangerous gold mining.
This artisanal mining takes place in informal areas or in abandoned mines.
Mine workers dig by hand using rudimentary tools for meager daily wages.
Inside the mines, many of which are poorly equipped, workers extract gold nuggets from rock, exposing themselves to hazardous chemicals like cyanide, which causes widespread disease.
Mine collapses are frequent across Sudan. In areas controlled by the army in the north and east of the country, workers sneak into abandoned mines in the hope of earning a meager daily wage.
Last week, at least 82 people were killed and dozens injured in a mine collapse in the Kordofan region.
Even before the war threatened millions of Sudanese with famine, mining provided employment for more than two million people, according to industry data.
Sudan, the third-largest country in Africa by area, is one of the continent's leading gold producers, recording its highest production level in five years last year at 70 tons, according to official data.
However, officials say that most of the gold is smuggled across Sudan's borders, including through Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt, before reaching Gulf countries, particularly the United Arab Emirates, the world's second-largest gold exporter.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned that both sides in the conflict are profiting financially from controlling the country's resources, and that a "war economy" is what is perpetuating the conflict.
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