A landslide at an illegal gold mine in Chad has killed about 30 people, a government minister said on Thursday.
Africa, the dark continent where emergency mgmt, brains are a rare find ?https://t.co/hvF0T9A7bP
— Moojnun Duur (@MoojnunDuur) September 26, 2019
The mine in the Tibesti region near the Libyan border collapsed early on Tuesday and more victims might still be buried in the rubble, defence minister Mahamat Sala told Reuters.
Tibesti has witnessed rapid growth in illegal mining in recent years, often by refugees from Sudan looking for quick money to head to Europe or by rebels fighting the army.
At least thirty people are feared to have died following a landslide at a gold mine in #Chad, close to the border with #Libya. The #Chadian defence minister, Mahamat Abali Salah, says the mine (at Kouri Bougoudi) in the largely lawless Tibesti region caved in early on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/NktVTrskZe
— Ruth Nesoba (@RuthNesoba) September 26, 2019
Unsafe methods and a lack of oversight mean accidents are common at such mines in Africa, where impoverished communities seek a share of the vast resources that are usually dug up by international companies, processed and sent overseas.
Last June, more than 40 people died when part of a Glencore copper and cobalt mine collapsed in southeast Congo.