Nearly 60 Killed In 'Dynamite Blast' At Gold Mine

An explosion at a makeshift gold mine in Burkina Faso has killed nearly 60 people.

The village in the southwest of the country, Gomgombiro, was rocked by the blast yesterday, February 21. It's still unclear what caused the explosion, although witnesses said it came after dynamite stored at the mine caught fire. Other reports have also cited chemicals used to treat gold.

Images from the scene have emerged online; some showing a huge crater as a result of the explosion, while others feature destroyed homes and bodies lying on the surrounding ground, covered in mats.

It's been reported that the initial blast took place around 2.00pm, before others went off as people tried to escape the area. As per Al Jazeera, the current provisional death toll stands at 59, provided by regional authorities in the wake of the blast.

Women and children are believed to be among those killed, with dozens more injured and evacuated to the Gaoua Regional Hospital Centre. Kids often work in these informal mines, and accidents are sadly rather common. For example, 13 people were killed in Ghana last month after a truck carrying explosives to a gold mine collided with a motorbike.

'I saw bodies everywhere. It was horrible,' Sansan Kambou, a forest ranger present during the explosion, told AP.

Gold is Burkina Faso's prime export, overtaking cotton in 2009, with the country ranking as one of Africa's biggest gold producers. The country produced a whopping 54 tonnes of gold last year alone, a large increase from 45 tonnes the year prior, according to the ministry in charge of mines and quarries.

However, while many mines are run by international firms, other makeshift mines operate without any oversight or regulation.

'The limited regulation of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector contributes to increased risks that can be very dangerous, including the use of explosives which are often smuggled into the country and used illegally,' said Marcena Hunter, senior analyst at Global Initiative.

Concerns have also been raised over armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS using the mines to tax miners, recruit fighters and seek refuge from conflict. In 2019, 20 people were killed after armed groups attacked a gold mine in the north of the country. Just one month later, 37 were killed and more than 60 injured in an ambush on a convoy transporting miners.

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