Collapse of Mining Wells in Sudan… Dozens of Victims, Dead and Injured

Six traditional miners were killed and nine others injured following the collapse of a mining well in Um Oud area, West Berber Locality, River Nile State.

The Sudan Doctors’ Network strongly condemned, in a statement on Saturday, the “continuing loss of lives due to the collapse of wells and artisanal mines.”

The network stated that “this incident comes just a few weeks after the collapse of the Huwaid mine, located between River Nile and Red Sea states in June, which resulted in dozens of victims, dead and injured, confirming that these incidents are a direct result of chaos, lack of oversight, and absence of safety standards in the traditional mining sector.”

The network held the government authorities, represented by the Sudanese Minerals Resources Company, fully responsible for these “recurrent disasters,” urging immediate measures to halt operations in unsafe, unregulated wells, provide safe alternatives for workers, and hold accountable anyone jeopardizing workers’ lives.

The network also called on humanitarian and human rights organizations to pressure official bodies to protect civilians’ lives, stressing that inaction amounts to complicity in the ongoing crimes against vulnerable communities.

Meanwhile, the network’s team is preparing a report on the dangers of mining and the chemicals used in gold extraction processes.