West Kordofan: At least 70 people have been killed after a gold mine collapsed in Sudan's West Kordofan state, with dozens of artisanal miners still trapped.

The Kordofan Observatory monitoring group said a series of adjoining mining shafts collapsed at the al-Zaraa mine near al-Nuhud town on Tuesday. No specialised rescue teams had joined the effort, and residents with rudimentary tools were struggling to pull survivors out of loose, sandy soil.

Survivor Khair al-Sayyed Jabara told AFP that he and fellow miners had dug throughout the night using their tools to reach survivors, adding that heavy equipment was needed. "We don't know how many more are still inside," he said. Another miner, Amin Suleiman, said the shafts were packed so closely that each one pulled down those beside it when it collapsed.

Local sources told Reuters that the high death toll was due to a lack of safety procedures and rescue equipment. The Sudan Doctors Network said search efforts were ongoing and the casualty figure could rise, condemning what it called "negligence" that put miners' lives at serious risk.

West Kordofan is held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has been fighting Sudan's army since April 2023. Smuggled gold has been a key source of revenue for the group. Sudan ranks among Africa's leading gold producers, with most of its gold coming from dangerous, informal mining at disused or unofficial sites.

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