Mali gold mine collapse kills more than 70

BAMAKO: More than 70 people have been killed after a tunnel collapsed at a Malian gold mining site last week, local sources told AFP on Wednesday, the latest disaster in a region prone to mining accidents.

Mali, which is among the world's poorest countries, is one of Africa´s leading gold producers.

Gold mining sites are regularly the scene of deadly landslides and authorities struggle to control artisanal mining of the precious metal. “It started with a noise. The earth started to shake,” Oumar Sidibe, an official for gold miners in the southwestern town of Kangaba, told AFP, of the incident on Friday.

“There were over 200 gold miners in the field. The search is over now. We´ve found 73 bodies,” he said. The same toll was given by a local councillor.

Mali´s ministry of mines in a statement on Tuesday had announced the death of several miners but did not give precise figures.