ZCZC
BFF-24
CHAD-MINING-ACCIDENT
Many feared dead in Chad gold mine collapse: minister
N’DJAMENA, Sept 26, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Many people were feared dead,
possibly 30, after an illegal gold mine collapsed in Chad, officials said
Thursday.
Defence Minister Mahamat Abali Salah told AFP the mine caved in early
Tuesday in a zone beset by illegal mining at Kouri Bougoudi, near the Libyan
border.
There there were “many deaths, for sure,” Salah said.
“A mine collapsed. I cannot say exactly how many fatalities there are but
there are many people working in these mines, so there must be many deaths,
for sure,” Salah told AFP by telephone.
An army officer who requested anonymity spoke of “around 30 deaths,”
basing the figure on witness accounts with the army yet to arrive on the
scene which is in a remote small town.
A local lawmaker spoke for his part of “a dozen deaths,” basing his tally
on what witnesses had related to him.
“I cannot give you an exact tally as we rushed troops to the scene this
morning,” said Salah, saying he expected a report during the morning.
The Tibesti region where the accident occurred is a largely lawless one
and home to various gangs and traffickers seeking to profit from a gold rush.
Clashes in January between rival groups of miners left “dozens” dead,
according to security and mining sources after fighting between groups of
Arabs from Libya and miners from Chad’s Ouaddai community, the sources said.
Kouri Bougoudi has itself been the scene of clashes among rival ethnic,
local and foreign groups since 2012 and 2013 after the discovery of gold
deposits there.
The Chadian government has authorised mining companies to exploit the
deposits but rights groups accuse authorities of using Arab fighters to
orchestrate a takeover of the area.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1438 hrs