First modification:
State television broadcast a video in which dozens of wounded and deceased were seen, including women and children. The explosion leveled several tin houses over a wide area.
An explosion reported last Monday, February 21, in an artisanal gold mine southwest of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, leaves at least 60 dead and about 40 people injured.
The detonation was heard in a rural commune of Gomgombiro, in the southwestern province of Poni, where the high commissioner of the province, Antoine Marie Sylvanus Doamba, had registered “55 bodies on the spot” on Monday night.
This February 22, local authorities increased the number of deaths and those affected by the explosion and launched an investigation to find out the causes of the detonation.
“Around six in the afternoon (16:00 GMT) on Monday, there was a strong explosion followed by a fire at an artisanal extraction site. (…) The provisional balance is 60 human lives lost,” said this Tuesday in a statement, the governor of the Southwest region, Wendinmanegdé Emmanuel Zongo, who also noted that “the incident area will remain closed until the relevant investigations are completed to clarify the event.”
The injured were taken to the Gaoua Regional Hospital, where several victims, including women and children, are being treated.
“The number of fatalities could increase as some of the injured remain in critical condition and their prognosis is very compromised,” said one of the hospital officials.
According to a judicial source, an investigation was opened to determine the cause and the owner of the market where the explosion occurred was detained for questioning.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the detonation of explosives at a gold panning site reached flammable materials on site and caused a fire.
“The cause has not yet been precisely determined. What you need to know is that the explosion took place in a market,” said the source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident. He also explained that “it is a market for artisanal gold miners and in this type of market everything is sold, including dangerous products prohibited by law, such as cyanide and dynamite. So we will have to look for the causes at this level.”
Burkina Faso’s main export
Burkina Faso is the fifth largest gold producer in Africa, a country where there are large mines of the precious metal that are managed by international companies along with hundreds of smaller informal operations that operate without any legal regulation.
Accidents are common in artisanal mines in Burkina Faso, a West African country currently ruled by a military junta since the January 24 coup that ended President Roch Kaboré’s term.
This coup, which led to the suspension of the country by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU), occurred after the social discontent that broke out due to the insecurity generated by the jihadist violence.
With EFE, Reuters and AP
First modification:
State television broadcast a video in which dozens of wounded and deceased were seen, including women and children. The explosion leveled several tin houses over a wide area.
An explosion reported last Monday, February 21, in an artisanal gold mine southwest of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, leaves at least 60 dead and about 40 people injured.
The detonation was heard in a rural commune of Gomgombiro, in the southwestern province of Poni, where the high commissioner of the province, Antoine Marie Sylvanus Doamba, had registered “55 bodies on the spot” on Monday night.
This February 22, local authorities increased the number of deaths and those affected by the explosion and launched an investigation to find out the causes of the detonation.
“Around six in the afternoon (16:00 GMT) on Monday, there was a strong explosion followed by a fire at an artisanal extraction site. (…) The provisional balance is 60 human lives lost,” said this Tuesday in a statement, the governor of the Southwest region, Wendinmanegdé Emmanuel Zongo, who also noted that “the incident area will remain closed until the relevant investigations are completed to clarify the event.”
The injured were taken to the Gaoua Regional Hospital, where several victims, including women and children, are being treated.
“The number of fatalities could increase as some of the injured remain in critical condition and their prognosis is very compromised,” said one of the hospital officials.
According to a judicial source, an investigation was opened to determine the cause and the owner of the market where the explosion occurred was detained for questioning.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the detonation of explosives at a gold panning site reached flammable materials on site and caused a fire.
“The cause has not yet been precisely determined. What you need to know is that the explosion took place in a market,” said the source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident. He also explained that “it is a market for artisanal gold miners and in this type of market everything is sold, including dangerous products prohibited by law, such as cyanide and dynamite. So we will have to look for the causes at this level.”
Burkina Faso’s main export
Burkina Faso is the fifth largest gold producer in Africa, a country where there are large mines of the precious metal that are managed by international companies along with hundreds of smaller informal operations that operate without any legal regulation.
Accidents are common in artisanal mines in Burkina Faso, a West African country currently ruled by a military junta since the January 24 coup that ended President Roch Kaboré’s term.
This coup, which led to the suspension of the country by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU), occurred after the social discontent that broke out due to the insecurity generated by the jihadist violence.
With EFE, Reuters and AP
First modification:
State television broadcast a video in which dozens of wounded and deceased were seen, including women and children. The explosion leveled several tin houses over a wide area.
An explosion reported last Monday, February 21, in an artisanal gold mine southwest of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, leaves at least 60 dead and about 40 people injured.
The detonation was heard in a rural commune of Gomgombiro, in the southwestern province of Poni, where the high commissioner of the province, Antoine Marie Sylvanus Doamba, had registered “55 bodies on the spot” on Monday night.
This February 22, local authorities increased the number of deaths and those affected by the explosion and launched an investigation to find out the causes of the detonation.
“Around six in the afternoon (16:00 GMT) on Monday, there was a strong explosion followed by a fire at an artisanal extraction site. (…) The provisional balance is 60 human lives lost,” said this Tuesday in a statement, the governor of the Southwest region, Wendinmanegdé Emmanuel Zongo, who also noted that “the incident area will remain closed until the relevant investigations are completed to clarify the event.”
The injured were taken to the Gaoua Regional Hospital, where several victims, including women and children, are being treated.
“The number of fatalities could increase as some of the injured remain in critical condition and their prognosis is very compromised,” said one of the hospital officials.
According to a judicial source, an investigation was opened to determine the cause and the owner of the market where the explosion occurred was detained for questioning.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the detonation of explosives at a gold panning site reached flammable materials on site and caused a fire.
“The cause has not yet been precisely determined. What you need to know is that the explosion took place in a market,” said the source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident. He also explained that “it is a market for artisanal gold miners and in this type of market everything is sold, including dangerous products prohibited by law, such as cyanide and dynamite. So we will have to look for the causes at this level.”
Burkina Faso’s main export
Burkina Faso is the fifth largest gold producer in Africa, a country where there are large mines of the precious metal that are managed by international companies along with hundreds of smaller informal operations that operate without any legal regulation.
Accidents are common in artisanal mines in Burkina Faso, a West African country currently ruled by a military junta since the January 24 coup that ended President Roch Kaboré’s term.
This coup, which led to the suspension of the country by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU), occurred after the social discontent that broke out due to the insecurity generated by the jihadist violence.
With EFE, Reuters and AP
First modification:
State television broadcast a video in which dozens of wounded and deceased were seen, including women and children. The explosion leveled several tin houses over a wide area.
An explosion reported last Monday, February 21, in an artisanal gold mine southwest of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, leaves at least 60 dead and about 40 people injured.
The detonation was heard in a rural commune of Gomgombiro, in the southwestern province of Poni, where the high commissioner of the province, Antoine Marie Sylvanus Doamba, had registered “55 bodies on the spot” on Monday night.
This February 22, local authorities increased the number of deaths and those affected by the explosion and launched an investigation to find out the causes of the detonation.
“Around six in the afternoon (16:00 GMT) on Monday, there was a strong explosion followed by a fire at an artisanal extraction site. (…) The provisional balance is 60 human lives lost,” said this Tuesday in a statement, the governor of the Southwest region, Wendinmanegdé Emmanuel Zongo, who also noted that “the incident area will remain closed until the relevant investigations are completed to clarify the event.”
The injured were taken to the Gaoua Regional Hospital, where several victims, including women and children, are being treated.
“The number of fatalities could increase as some of the injured remain in critical condition and their prognosis is very compromised,” said one of the hospital officials.
According to a judicial source, an investigation was opened to determine the cause and the owner of the market where the explosion occurred was detained for questioning.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the detonation of explosives at a gold panning site reached flammable materials on site and caused a fire.
“The cause has not yet been precisely determined. What you need to know is that the explosion took place in a market,” said the source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the incident. He also explained that “it is a market for artisanal gold miners and in this type of market everything is sold, including dangerous products prohibited by law, such as cyanide and dynamite. So we will have to look for the causes at this level.”
Burkina Faso’s main export
Burkina Faso is the fifth largest gold producer in Africa, a country where there are large mines of the precious metal that are managed by international companies along with hundreds of smaller informal operations that operate without any legal regulation.
Accidents are common in artisanal mines in Burkina Faso, a West African country currently ruled by a military junta since the January 24 coup that ended President Roch Kaboré’s term.
This coup, which led to the suspension of the country by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU), occurred after the social discontent that broke out due to the insecurity generated by the jihadist violence.
With EFE, Reuters and AP