CAR gold mine collapse kills 100+, hopes fade as rescue teams struggle

Rescuers in Zamboye continued pulling bodies from the collapsed gold mine as hopes of finding survivors faded. The disaster has highlighted the deadly risks of unsafe artisanal mining and the weak emergency response in the region.Image used for representational purposes onlyHopes of finding survivors at a collapsed gold mine in the Central African Republic were fading on Thursday, two days after the disaster killed more than 100 people and left others buried under debris.Rescuers were still recovering bodies from the artisanal mining site in Zamboye, near the border with Cameroon, but local workers said the response did not have the equipment or expertise needed for a disaster on this scale. The local Red Cross was also involved in the search, while officials warned that the death toll was likely to rise."The rescue effort is being organised, but it is not up to the task," said Jrmie Ngbiri, a miner at the site who lost his brother and a friend in the collapse. Ngbiri said he saw some victims suffocate as people tried to rescue them.Red Cross volunteer Gervais Ganagoro said the organisation could not say how many people were still buried. "We continue to find bodies," he said, adding that more than 10 were recovered on Thursday morning alone. "Every hour, bodies are being discovered, increasing the number of victims." The mine collapsed on Tuesday after a landslide. Local officials and the Red Cross said on Wednesday that more than 100 people had died and warned that the toll was likely to increase.Mines Minister Rufin Benam Beltoungou expressed condolences to the families of the victims and warned miners about the dangers of unsafe mining practices, according to a statement posted by the ministry. Some of the victims were from neighbouring Cameroon. Cameroon's Mines Ministry said both Cameroonian and Central African miners were believed to be among the dead and had sent a team to assess the situation along the border. State-run Cameroon Tribune reported that at least four Cameroonians were killed.Artisanal mine collapses are common in the Central African Republic, where thousands of people work in small-scale mining, often with little protection. Pits are frequently dug by hand and can reach several metres deep. Without adequate reinforcement, shifting ground can cause tunnels to collapse suddenly and bury miners within seconds.Earlier this year, researchers and local media reported unsafe and unregulated mining linked to a fast-growing gold rush around Zamboye, where the mine collapsed. A 2025 report by UN experts documented illicit mining in the area, including the involvement of armed groups and the use of extraction methods that posed health and environmental risks.The rescue effort remained under way on Thursday as bodies continued to be recovered from the collapsed mine, with workers and officials warning that the number of dead could rise further.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 20, 2026 16:46 IST