A gold mine shaft collapsed in northeastern Sudan, killing at least 11 miners and injuring 30 others, a state official confirmed Sunday, as rescue teams continued searching for missing workers trapped beneath the debris.
The disaster marks the second fatal collapse at an informal gold mine in Sudan within a week. The country hosts thousands of such small-scale operations, many of which operate without regulation in regions destabilized by a protracted conflict that has periodically driven areas into famine.
Just last Sunday, at least 82 people perished when multiple shafts gave way at a mine in western Sudan, an area controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF has been battling the Sudanese military for over three years.
According to Abdalhay Kharif Abakar, a worker in the area, the latest collapse occurred Saturday night in Oni, a remote location in the northeastern Red Sea State. An official from the state-owned Sudanese Mineral Resources Company reported that 11 bodies had been recovered by Sunday, with 30 people rescued. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to a lack of authorization to address the media, said the search for additional victims was ongoing.
In a formal statement, the company extended condolences for the lives lost but did not release specific casualty details. Deadly accidents are frequent in Sudan’s gold mining sector, where safety standards are rarely enforced.
Sudan descended into full-scale war in April 2023 following the outbreak of hostilities between the RSF and the national army. The conflict has claimed at least 59,000 lives, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, though aid organizations warn the actual death toll is likely significantly higher.
Experts commissioned by the United Nations have also documented large-scale gold smuggling from the country, with proceeds allegedly financing RSF operations. The paramilitary group controls key gold-producing regions in Darfur and Kordofan.
