KHARTOUM: Six people have been killed and up to 20 others are feared trapped after a gold mine collapsed in northern Sudan, authorities said on Saturday.
The accident occurred on Friday in the Um Aud area, west of the city of Berber in River Nile state, said Hassan Ibrahim Karar, executive director of the Berber locality.
“Efforts are ongoing to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble,” Karar said, without specifying the cause of the collapse of the artisanal mine.
Since fighting erupted in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, both sides have largely financed their war efforts through the country’s gold industry.
Despite the conflict, the army-backed government announced record gold production of 64 tons for 2024.
Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country by area, remains one of the continent’s top gold producers.
However, most gold is extracted through artisanal and small-scale mining operations, which lack proper safety measures and often use hazardous chemicals, resulting in severe health risks for miners and nearby communities.
Before the war pushed 25 million Sudanese into acute food insecurity, artisanal mining employed more than two million people, according to industry figures.
Today, mining experts say much of the gold produced by both warring factions is smuggled through Chad, South Sudan and Egypt.
The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced roughly 10 million people, creating the world’s largest displacement crisis. An additional four million Sudanese have fled across borders.
Sudan gold mine collapse kills six, traps others: officials
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Sudan gold mine collapse kills six, traps others: officials
- “Efforts are ongoing to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble,” Karar said
- The army-backed government announced record gold production of 64 tons for 2024.
WHO alarmed by health workers, civilians ‘forcibly detained’ in Sudan
- The WHO counts and verifies attacks on health care, though it does not attribute blame as it is not an investigation agency
GENEVA: The World Health Organization voiced alarm Tuesday at reports that more than 70 health workers and around 5,000 civilians were being detained in Nyala in southwestern Sudan.
Since April 2023, Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a brutal conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 12 million more and devastated infrastructure.
“We are concerned by reports from Nyala, the capital of Sudan’s South Darfur state, that more than 70 health care workers are being forcibly detained along with about 5,000 civilians,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
“According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the detainees are being held in cramped and unhealthy conditions, and there are reports of disease outbreaks,” the UN health agency chief said.
The RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction allied earlier this year, forming a coalition based in Nyala.
“WHO is gathering more information on the detentions and conditions of those being held. The situation is complicated by the ongoing insecurity,” said Tedros.
“The reported detentions of health workers and thousands more people is deeply concerning. Health workers and civilians should be protected at all times and we call for their safe and unconditional release.”
The WHO counts and verifies attacks on health care, though it does not attribute blame as it is not an investigation agency.
In total, the WHO has recorded 65 attacks on health care in Sudan this year, resulting in 1,620 deaths and 276 injuries. Of those attacks, 54 impacted personnel, 46 impacted facilities and 33 impacted patients.
Earlier Tuesday, UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was “alarmed by the further intensification in hostilities” in the Kordofan region in southern Sudan.
“I urge all parties to the conflict and states with influence to ensure an immediate ceasefire and to prevent atrocities,” he said.
“Medical facilities and personnel have specific protection against attack under international humanitarian law,” Turk added.
