Rescue workers in Sudan have recovered at least 31 bodies from the Darsaya gold mine, where 38 people are believed to be killed when it collapsed earlier this week.
The Sudanese Mineral Resources Limited Company, a state-run mining company, said rescue workers and villagers are continuing their search of the mine in the West Kordofan province's Fuja village, looking for more bodies or even possibly survivors.
Al-Jazeera reported that the mine had been condemned due to safety concerns and that it had security patrolling the area to make sure miners did not try to enter. A mining official told Deutsche Welle, a German broadcaster, that authorities shut the mine down after four miners were killed there in January.
However, local miners slipped in when the security guards left the area. According to Al-Jazeera, local media first reported several shafts in the Darsaya mine collapsed, leaving – in addition to the dead – at least eight people injured badly enough to require a hospital visit.
The Sudanese Mineral Resources Limited Company posted images on Facebook Tuesday showing hundreds of villagers watching as at least two rescue workers searched for bodies and survivors. Others show villagers preparing graves for any dead they recover.
Sudan is a major producer of gold, but the industry has struggled with corruption. The Al-Jazeera report said gold mine collapses are common in Sudan because of a lack of enforcement for safety regulations.
The transitional government has begun regulating the industry during the past two years.
In nearby North Darfur province, an unidentified armed group late Tuesday attacked and looted a warehouse for the World Food Program in the provincial capital of el-Fasher, said Khardiata Lo Ndiaye, U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Sudan. Local authorities in North Darfur imposed a curfew across the province starting Wednesday.
As many as 1,900 metric tons of food had been stored at the warehouse, meant to be distributed to people in need in the area, the WFP said.
"Such an attack severely impedes our ability to deliver to the people who need it the most," she said.
Sudan is one of the poorest counties in the world, with at least 14.3 million people in need humanitarian assistance, according to U.N. figures.
The attack on WFP's warehouse came after another one on a former base for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in el-Fasher last week. The base, handed over to Sudanese authorities on December 21, was also looted, the U.N. said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
