AT LEAST 30 DEAD AFTER GOLD MINE COLLAPSE IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

At least 30 people have been killed after an artisanal gold mine collapsed in the Central African Republic near the border with Cameroon on Tuesday. The incident occurred at the Zamboye mining site, a few kilometres from Garoua-Boulai in eastern Cameroon. According to the Baboua public prosecutor, the collapse involved "several underground tunnels in which miners were operating." Video footage posted to social media appears to show a large mound of earth break away from the side of the mine and slide down into a mass of people, burying some of them.

Reports of the death toll vary. Soleymane Bi, deputy mayor of Nana-Mambere prefecture in the Central African Republic, said rescuers and residents pulled 30 bodies from the collapsed mine over several hours, whilst a local civil servant told AFP that about 40 people died at the site. Laurent Ngon Baba, an elected official from Baboua, told AFP on Wednesday that "at this stage it's difficult for us to establish a formal toll." Cedric Mbango, a miner at the site, described the incident as "catastrophic", adding that "the ground completely collapsed and buried people" and that rescue attempts were continuing.

The governor of the eastern Cameroon region, Gregoire Mvongo, said Cameroon was "working in close collaboration with our Central African colleagues to deal with the aftermath of this tragedy." Government spokesman Evariste Ngamana expressed sympathy for victims' families and said authorities are "working hard to provide relief and assistance" to those affected. Artisanal mine collapses are common in the Central African Republic, where several thousand people work in small-scale extraction mining outside government control, often without adequate protection.