Wadi Halfa, October 29 (Darfur24)
Five artisanal miners were killed and others injured on Wednesday when a gold-mining well collapsed in the Samna area, about 20 kilometers south of Wadi Halfa in Sudan’s Northern State, near the Egyptian border, according to eyewitnesses and local sources.
Ibrahim Yahya Ibrahim, an eyewitness, told Darfur24 that the collapse had killed five people, according to an initial count, and injured several others.
Rescue efforts were continuing as miners searched for people believed to be missing or trapped beneath the rubble, he said.
Another eyewitness said local authorities had arrived at the scene and that rescue operations were under way alongside an investigation into the circumstances of the collapse.
The incident follows a series of fatal accidents at artisanal mining sites across Sudan.
Last Sunday, the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company announced that two miners had died and three others were injured when an abandoned well collapsed at the Martyrs’ Mine in Gedaref State the previous Thursday.
The previous week, four artisanal miners were killed in a separate well collapse at the Um Fakrun mine in Abu Jubeiha locality, South Kordofan State.
Well collapses remain a recurring hazard at Sudan’s artisanal mining sites, raising concerns about workplace safety and oversight. Traditional mining provides income for many people amid worsening economic conditions.
