Conakry, May 9, 2021: A rock overhang collapsing on the top of a clandestine artisanal gold mine in Siguiri, Guinea has resulted in the confirmed deaths of at least 15 people with the actual number feared to be much higher. The collapsing overhang led to a landslide in the mine near the village of Tantakourou according to reports from first responders.
It was not immediately cleared how the victims met their deaths but it is likely it happened either from the falling rock or by being buried inside the facility.
According to a Red Cross official on site who prefers to remained unnamed, at least 15 people had been killed but did not rule out that others had been buried at the mine entrance. Sinaman Traore, a gold panner at the mine, said he had seen volunteers rescue two colleagues. “This situation in the Siguiri mines concerns all of us, at the end of the day these landslides are more deadly than the Covid-19 pandemic,” said police capitain Mamadou Niare after arriving at the scene.
As far as the virus goes, Guinea’s Covid-19 death toll on Saturday stood at 149 but recent years have seen a spate of accidents at artisanal mines, particularly around Siguiri near the border with Mali, a region where more than 20,000 panners are officially active. At least 17 clandestine miners were killed in a landslide in February 2019 and another dozen nine months later.
The majority of the populations struggles to survive in Guinea despite its rich deposits of minerals such as bauxite, diamonds and gold. The search for gold riches attracts clandestine miners from Mali, Senegal and several other West African neighbours.
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