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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 northern Chad close to
the Libyan border, officials said Thursday.
Defence Minister Mahamat Abali Salah told AFP the mine caved in early
Tuesday in a zone beset by illicit mining and trafficking at Kouri Bougoudi
in Tibesti province.
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 phone.
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 later.
Tibesti, the province where the accident occurred, is largely lawless and
home to numerous gangs and traffickers seeking to profit from a gold rush.
Clashes in January between Arab miners from Libya and miners from Chad’s
Ouaddai community left “dozens” dead, according to security and mining
sources.
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.
In March, the Chadian government decided to set up a joint security force
in Tibesti and declared the border with southern Libya — a major source of
trafficking and a haven for Chadian rebels, but also the region’s main food
supply — to be closed.
This move was followed in August by a decree by President Idriss Deby
declaring a state of emergency in Tibesti and two other provinces.
BSS/AFP/RY/1555 hrs