‘The ground completely collapsed and buried people’: Over 100 dead in Central African Republic gold mine disaster

More than 100 people are dead after an artisanal gold mine collapsed in the Central African Republic on Tuesday in one of the country’s deadliest mining disasters in recent memory, according to the Associated Press.

The collapse occurred at the Zamboye mining site, about 50 kilometres from the town of Baboua in western CAR near the border with Cameroon, after several underground tunnels in which miners were operating caved in simultaneously.

Gervais Ganagoroh, a Red Cross volunteer involved in the relief effort, told the Associated Press that more than 100 bodies had been recovered from the collapse, with the toll expected to rise as several people remain missing or trapped beneath the rubble.

At least four of the victims were Cameroonian nationals, according to Cameroon Tribune, while survivors were taken to hospital in Baboua as search operations continued. The Baboua public prosecutor confirmed the collapse and announced a judicial inquiry, though officials said it remained difficult to establish a formal toll.

One miner at the scene described the moment of collapse as “catastrophic,” telling reporters: “The ground completely collapsed and buried people.”

The disaster is the fourth deadly mine collapse in CAR this year alone — in June, a similar collapse killed several dozen people at the Be-Mbari gold mining site, also on the Cameroon border, while a March landslide killed seven and a February collapse killed 20 in the northeast. Artisanal mining remains a critical source of livelihood across CAR, but chronically weak regulation and poor safety standards continue to produce deadly accidents with grim regularity.