Khartoum: Six people have been killed and up to 20 others are feared trapped after a gold mine collapsed in northern Sudan, authorities said on Saturday.
The accident occurred on Friday in the Um Aud area, west of the city of Berber in River Nile state, said Hassan Ibrahim Karar, executive director of the Berber locality.
"Efforts are ongoing to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble," Karar said, without specifying the cause of the collapse of the artisanal mine.
Since fighting erupted in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, both sides have largely financed their war efforts through the country's gold industry.
Despite the conflict, the army-backed government announced record gold production of 64 tonnes for 2024.
Sudan, Africa's third-largest country by area, remains one of the continent's top gold producers.
However, most gold is extracted through artisanal and small-scale mining operations, which lack proper safety measures and often use hazardous chemicals, resulting in severe health risks for miners and nearby communities.
Before the war pushed 25 million Sudanese into acute food insecurity, artisanal mining employed more than two million people, according to industry figures.
