Landslide in Chad's gold mine: At least 30 people dead

At least 30 people died due to a landslide in an illegal gold mine in Chad.

The landslide occurred on Tuesday, September 24, 2019. The illegal gold mine is located in Kouri Bougoudi, an area in northern Chad's Tibesti region near the borders with Libya. 

According to Mahamat Sala, Chad's Defense Minister, more victims may be trapped under the debris and, therefore, the number of fatalities may increase. "A mine collapsed. I cannot say exactly how many fatalities there are but there are many people working in these mines, so there must be many deaths, for sure," Mr. Sala stated.

Illegal mining is thriving in Tibesti as it is a remote region that was also declared at a state of emergency in August 2019. 

Failures such as landslides are common in illegal mining facilities as there is an absence of technical specifications and safety measures. 

Back in July 2019, a copper and cobalt mine collapsed in the Democratic Republic of Congo leading in at least 43 fatalities. Glencore, a British–Swiss mining company, that operates the mine stated that around 2,000 illegal miners enter the facilities. They usually utilize insufficient methods the reduce the stability of mines.

Earlier in 2019, a landslide killed 17 more people in another gold mine in northeastern Guinea. The slide was sudden and unexpected and there was no sign of risk in the mine that was operating for years according to a local.