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Mine collapse kills 15
Fifteen workers died after a partial collapse inside a closed gold mine in northern Sudan, according to the Sudanese Mineral Resources Limited, which said the incident occurred at the Mohammed Toufik mine in the Wadi Halfa area near the Egyptian border.
“partial collapse of a gold mine in the Suma area of Wadi Halfa province”
The company said workers entered the mine “although it was closed after technical evaluations proved its danger,” and that “parts of the mine collapsing on them” led to the deaths of 15 workers and the injury of one.
Al Jazeera Net reported the deaths in Sudan’s Suma area of Wadi Halfa province in the north, describing a collapse that killed 15 and injured one.
The same Al Jazeera Net account said the company dispatched field teams to the site in coordination with the Mining Police and rescue teams under the state government and Wadi Halfa Province, as rescue, ambulance, and victim removal operations began.
Other tolls and causes
While multiple reports centered on the Mohammed Tawfiq mine in Wadi Halfa, other Sudan mine-collapse figures varied, including Anadolu Ajansı’s report of six deaths and 12 injuries after an “effondrement d’une mine d’or” in Abu Jubaiha in South Kordofan state.
Anadolu Ajansı quoted the Sudanese doctors network saying, “L’effondrement d’une mine d’or à Abou Jubaïha a causé la mort de six mineurs et fait 12 blessés,” and said the fate of dozens of others was unknown because they were buried under debris.
In the Wadi Halfa case, Arab News said the miners “had snuck into the shut-down Mohamed Tawfiq mine,” and quoted the state company that “parts of the mine collapsed... killing 15 miners and injuring one.”
Arab News also tied the broader context to the war that erupted in April 2023 between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, saying both sides’ war efforts have been largely funded by Sudan’s gold industry.
Gold economy and safety risk
Across the coverage, Sudan’s gold rush is presented as a driver of repeated mine disasters, with Al-Jazeera Net saying the informal mining sector employs more than two million people across Sudan and produces about 80% of the total gold mined in the country.
“The informal mining sector employs more than two million people”
Al-Jazeera Net also said the war effort of both sides has been largely financed by gold production since the outbreak of the war in Sudan in mid-April 2023 between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, alongside support from external parties.
VOA Afrique reported a separate collapse in Western Kordofan province, saying Sudanese authorities put the death toll at “at least 38 people were killed” when a derelict gold mine collapsed in the village of Fuja, 700 kilometers south of the capital Khartoum.
VOA Afrique added that the state-owned mining company asked troops to keep guard of the site to prevent any unregulated mining, and it urged local communities to help it resume mining activities in the region, which had been suspended in 2019.