Explosion at gold mining site kills at least 63, injures dozens in West Africa: "Bodies everywhere"
A strong explosion near a gold mining site in southwestern Burkina Faso killed at least 63 people and injured more than 100 others Monday, the national broadcaster and witnesses reported.
"We have 63 dead and around 40 injured," the public prosecutor in the town of Gaoua, Alpha Compaore, told AFP.
The blast in the village of Gbomblora was believed to have been caused by chemicals used to treat gold that were stocked at the site.
State television broadcast video showing bodies covered in sheets on the ground and wounded men at a hospital, Reuters reported.
"I saw bodies everywhere. It was horrible," Sansan Kambou, a forest ranger who was at the site during the explosion, told The Associated Press by phone.
The first blast happened around 2 p.m., with more explosions following as people ran for their lives, he said.
"When we arrived the bodies were scattered, so with the security personnel which came to reinforce, we had to secure the area and use volunteers to evacuate the bodies," Poni Province High Commissioner Antoine Sylvanus Douamba said, according to Reuters. "It was probably caused by explosives but how it happened, for the moment we don't know."
Burkina Faso is the fastest-growing gold producer in Africa and currently the fifth largest on the continent, with gold being the country's most important export. The industry employs about 1.5 million people and was worth about $2 billion in 2019.
Small gold mines like Gbomblora have grown in recent years, with some 800 across the country. Much of the gold is being smuggled into neighboring Togo, Benin, Niger and Ghana, according to the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies.
The small-scale mines are also reportedly used by jihadis linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State, which have staged attacks in the country since 2016. The groups reportedly raise funds by taxing miners, and also use the mine sites for recruiting fighters and seeking refuge.
Mining experts say the small-scale mines have fewer regulations than industrial ones and thus can be more dangerous.
"The limited regulation of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector contributes to increased risks that can be very dangerous, including the use of explosives which are often smuggled into the country and used illegally," said Marcena Hunter, senior analyst at Global Initiative, a Swiss-based think tank.