at least 55 people died in an explosion at an artisanal mine

The explosion of a stockpile of dynamite on an artisanal gold mining site, Monday, February 21, killed at least 55 people in Burkina Faso. The accident occurred on Monday afternoon at the gold panning site of Gomgombiro, in the south-west of Burkina Faso. “We have 55 bodies on the site”said the High Commissioner of the province of Poni Antoine Marie Sylvanus Doamba, who went to the scene of the tragedy.

A hospital source also reported 55 dead and said they had identified at least 55 injured, including women and children. “The balance sheet could increase since the injured are still in critical condition and their vital prognosis is seriously engaged”, she clarified. Burkina Faso’s national television, for its part, announced a provisional death toll of 59.

According to a judicial source, the prosecutor of Faso went to the scene for the usual findings, and “an investigation has been opened to determine the circumstances” drama.

Despite the ban on gold panning, which regularly causes deadly landslides, the authorities are struggling to control the uncontrolled exploitation of gold, carried out by 1.2 million people, according to official figures. Although declining, gold production has become in a dozen years the first export product of Burkina Faso, whose main export product was previously cotton.