Dozens killed in Mali gold mine collapse

An unregulated gold mine has collapsed in Mali, killing more than 70 people, an official said Wednesday, and a search continued amid fears that the toll could rise.

Karim Berthé, a senior official at the government’s National Geology and Mining Directorate, confirmed the details to The Associated Press and called it an accident.

There were around 100 people in the mine at the time of the collapse, according to Abdoulaye Pona, president of the Mali Chamber of Mines, who was at the scene, reports BBC.

The cause of the collapse, which happened in Kangaba district in the southwestern Koulikoro region on Friday, was under investigation. It was first reported on Tuesday in a Ministry of Mines statement that estimated “several” miners dead.