BAMAKO: At least 48 people were killed in the collapse of an illegally operated gold mine in western Mali Saturday, authorities and local sources told AFP.
Mali is one of Africa’s leading gold producers, and mining sites are regularly the scene of deadly landslides and accidents.
Authorities have struggled to control unregulated mining of the precious metal in the country, which is among the world’s poorest.
“The toll at 18:00 today is 48 dead following the collapse,” said a police source.
“Some of the victims fell into the water. Among them was a woman with her baby on her back.”
A local official confirmed the cave-in, while the Kenieba gold miners’ association also put the death toll at 48.
The search for victims was ongoing, the head of an environmental organization told AFP.
Saturday’s accident took place at an abandoned site formerly operated by a Chinese company, sources told AFP.
In January, a landslide at a gold mine in southern Mali killed at least 10 people and left many others missing, most of them women.
Just over a year ago, a tunnel collapsed at a gold mining site in the same region as Saturday’s landslide, killing more than 70 people.
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Mali gold mine accident kills at least 48
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https://arab.news/5dsda
Mali gold mine accident kills at least 48
- Police and Kenieba gold miners’ association confirmed the death toll
- Mali is one of Africa’s leading gold producers, but mining is largely unregulated
Explosion at US embassy in Oslo, no injuries: police
OSLO, Norway: Norwegian police reported on Sunday an explosion at the US embassy in the capital Oslo, but said there were no casualties.
The explosion occurred around 1:00 am local time (0000 GMT), the Oslo police department said in a statement, adding they did not know the cause of the blast.
Public broadcaster NRK quoted police incident commander Michael Dellemyr saying the blast hit the entrance of the embassy’s consular section.
“At around 1:00 am we received several reports of an explosion. We arrived shortly afterward and confirmed that there had been an explosion that hit the US embassy,” he told NRK.
“There is minor damage,” he said.
“We are not going to comment on anything related to the type of damage, what it is that has exploded and similar details, beyond the fact that there has been an explosion” because “it is very early in the investigation,” he said.
The police statement said investigators were in contact with the embassy about the incident and there was a huge police deployment on site.
Residents near the embassy said they heard a loud blast.
A 16-year-old identified only as Edvard told TV2 that he was watching television when he heard the blast.
“My mother and I first thought it came from our house so we looked around a little, but then we saw the flashing lights outside the window and a ton of police,” he said.
“There were police dogs and drones and police with automatic weapons and helicopters in the air,” he said.
US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East over American military operations in Iran and several have faced attacks as Tehran hits back at industrial and diplomatic targets.
But police gave no indication the incident near the embassy in Oslo was connected to the conflict.
The explosion occurred around 1:00 am local time (0000 GMT), the Oslo police department said in a statement, adding they did not know the cause of the blast.
Public broadcaster NRK quoted police incident commander Michael Dellemyr saying the blast hit the entrance of the embassy’s consular section.
“At around 1:00 am we received several reports of an explosion. We arrived shortly afterward and confirmed that there had been an explosion that hit the US embassy,” he told NRK.
“There is minor damage,” he said.
“We are not going to comment on anything related to the type of damage, what it is that has exploded and similar details, beyond the fact that there has been an explosion” because “it is very early in the investigation,” he said.
The police statement said investigators were in contact with the embassy about the incident and there was a huge police deployment on site.
Residents near the embassy said they heard a loud blast.
A 16-year-old identified only as Edvard told TV2 that he was watching television when he heard the blast.
“My mother and I first thought it came from our house so we looked around a little, but then we saw the flashing lights outside the window and a ton of police,” he said.
“There were police dogs and drones and police with automatic weapons and helicopters in the air,” he said.
US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East over American military operations in Iran and several have faced attacks as Tehran hits back at industrial and diplomatic targets.
But police gave no indication the incident near the embassy in Oslo was connected to the conflict.
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