More than 80 killed in Sudan gold mine collapse

The death toll from the collapse of an informal gold mine in a remote area of Sudan has risen to 82, as rescuers struggle to search for the missing with limited equipment.

Survivors said the collapse happened at the al-Zara gold mine, in Nuhud, a town in West Kordofan province, which is controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. The group has been fighting against the Sudanese military for more than three years.

Suleiman Abu Hmeida, a member of the Emergency Response Rooms, said that rescuers pulled out 82 bodies by Wednesday afternoon.

"But dozens remain unaccounted for," Abu Hmeida told The Associated Press.

The Emergency Response Rooms is a grassroots network that monitors the conflict and provides support for communities across war-torn Sudan.

The official said the collapse began on Sunday in one of the mine shafts and spread to the other interconnected shafts. He said only one privately owned forklift is available for the rescue efforts, complicating the search for survivors.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to speak to the media.

"The collapse is massive and the situation is very dire," Khairal-Sayed Gabara, one of the survivors, told the AP when reached by phone. He said the machinery needed to remove the collapsed soil and rubble wasn't available.

"We do not have the machinery to lift dirt and stones and search for survivors at depths of more than 30 metres," he said. "There were dozens of people working in the mine."

The al-Zara gold mine is one of thousands of small-scale and informal mines scattered across Sudan, which has been engulfed in a war that has at times pushed parts of the country into famine.

Despite being a major gold producer, deadly mine collapses in Sudan aren't uncommon in a country where safety standards aren't widely applied. A 2023 collapse killed 14 miners and one in 2021 claimed 38 lives.