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.
![]()
Mali gold mine accident kills at least 48
Short Url
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
Putin says Russia will achieve its Ukraine aims by force if Kyiv doesn’t want peace
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was in no hurry for peace and if it did not want to resolve their conflict peacefully, Moscow would accomplish all its goals by force.
Putin’s remarks on Saturday, carried by state news agency TASS, followed a vast Russian drone and missile attack that prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to say Russia was demonstrating its wish to continue the war while Kyiv wanted peace.
Zelensky is to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to seek a resolution to the war Putin launched nearly four years ago with a full-scale invasion of Russia’s smaller neighbor.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Putin’s remarks.
Russian commanders told Putin during an inspection visit that Moscow’s forces had captured the towns of Myrnohrad, Rodynske and Artemivka in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, as well as Huliaipole and Stepnohirsk in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Kremlin said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine’s military rejected Russia’s assertions about Huliaipole and Myrnohrad as false statements. The situation in both places remains “difficult” but “defensive operations” by Ukrainian troops are ongoing, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement on social media.
The Southern Command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Telegram “fierce fighting” continued in Huliaipole. “However, a substantial part of Huliaipole continues to be held by the Defense Forces of Ukraine.”
Verifying battlefield claims is difficult as access on both sides is restricted, information is tightly controlled and front lines shift quickly, with media relying on satellite and geolocated footage that can be partial or delayed.
Putin’s remarks on Saturday, carried by state news agency TASS, followed a vast Russian drone and missile attack that prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to say Russia was demonstrating its wish to continue the war while Kyiv wanted peace.
Zelensky is to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday to seek a resolution to the war Putin launched nearly four years ago with a full-scale invasion of Russia’s smaller neighbor.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Putin’s remarks.
Russian commanders told Putin during an inspection visit that Moscow’s forces had captured the towns of Myrnohrad, Rodynske and Artemivka in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, as well as Huliaipole and Stepnohirsk in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Kremlin said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine’s military rejected Russia’s assertions about Huliaipole and Myrnohrad as false statements. The situation in both places remains “difficult” but “defensive operations” by Ukrainian troops are ongoing, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement on social media.
The Southern Command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Telegram “fierce fighting” continued in Huliaipole. “However, a substantial part of Huliaipole continues to be held by the Defense Forces of Ukraine.”
Verifying battlefield claims is difficult as access on both sides is restricted, information is tightly controlled and front lines shift quickly, with media relying on satellite and geolocated footage that can be partial or delayed.
Latest updates
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.