Mali goldmine collapse leaves at least 48 dead

At least 48 people were killed in western Mali after an illegally operated goldmine collapsed on Saturday, officials said.

One of Africa’s leading gold producers, Mali frequently witnesses fatal incidents involving miners in unregulated mines.

“The death toll is 48 following the landslide,” a police official told AFP news agency. The victims were mostly young women, including a mother who was carrying her child on her back.

The collapse took place at an abandoned mine formerly operated by a Chinese company, AFP reported, citing unnamed sources. "It’s an illegal site. There is a lot of complicity in the exploitation of this type of site in the region," Boubacar Keita from the Kenieba gold prospectors' association said.

The head of a local environmental organisation said the search for the victims was ongoing.

Malian authorities have been under mounting pressure to contain unregulated mining of the precious metal in the western African country, which is among the world's poorest.

Artisanal mining is common across much of western Africa and has risen in recent years due to growing demand for metals and rising prices._Agencies.