KHARTOUM: A partial collapse in a decommissioned gold mine in northern Sudan has killed 15 miners, a state company said on Monday.
The miners had snuck into the shut-down Mohamed Tawfiq mine, in Wadi Halfa near the Egyptian border, when “parts of the mine collapsed... killing 15 miners and injuring one,” the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company said.
Since war erupted in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, both sides’ war efforts have been largely funded by Sudan’s gold industry, in addition to foreign backers.
The war has devastated Sudan’s already fragile economy and left much of the country out of work, pushing many into a dangerous gold rush.
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining, which takes place in unofficial zones or decommissioned mines, accounts for the majority of gold extracted.
