By Chris Jewers (for Mailonline and Wires)
Around 60 people were killed and more than 100 others wounded on Monday in an explosion at an informal gold mining site in Burkina Faso.
The explosion was believed to have been caused by chemicals used to treat gold that were stocked at the site, although officials have not yet confirmed the cause.
mages showed a large blast site of felled trees and destroyed tin houses. Bodies lay on the ground, covered in mats.
‘I saw bodies everywhere. It was horrible,’ Sansan Kambou, a forest ranger who was at the site during the explosion, told The Associated Press.
The first blast happened around 2pm local time, with more explosions following as people ran for their lives, he said.
The provisional toll was provided by regional authorities following the blast in the village of Gbomblora, RTB reported.
It was not clear exactly what kind of gold mining went on at the site.
Burkina Faso is home to some major gold mines run by international companies, but also to hundreds of smaller, informal sites that operate without oversight or regulation.
Children frequently work in these so-called artisanal mines; accidents are common.
Burkina Faso is the fastest growing gold producer in Africa and currently the fifth largest on the continent, with gold being the country’s most important export.
The industry employs about 1.5 million people and was worth about $2 billion in 2019.
Small gold mines like Gbomblora have grown in recent years, with some 800 across the country.
Much of the gold is being smuggled into neighboring Togo, Benin, Niger and Ghana, according to the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies.
Mining experts say the small-scale mines have fewer regulations than industrial ones and thus can be more dangerous.
‘The limited regulation of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector contributes to increased risks that can be very dangerous, including the use of explosives which are often smuggled into the country and used illegally,’ said Marcena Hunter, senior analyst at Global Initiative, a Swiss-based think tank.
Burkina Faso, one of the world’s least developed countries, is under attack from Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State who seek control of mining sites as a means to fund their violent attacks.
The groups reportedly raise funds by taxing miners, and also use the mine sites for recruiting fighters and seeking refuge.
Monday’s blast was hundreds of miles from where these groups usually operate and there was no sign that Islamist militants were involved.
- Daily Mail Online
