An investigation has been opened and one person has been detained after an explosion killed more than sixty people at an informal gold mining site in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
The explosion occurred at a market for small-scale gold miners adjacent to the actual mining site, located in the rural commune of Gbomblora, in the southwestern province of Poni.
“This is a traditional gold panning site. The miners come from different backgrounds, many displaced, from the north or the east. They resell to intermediaries in Gaoua,” said Sansan Urbain Kambou, a local leader in Gbomblora.
According to a source, who has requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak about the incident, the death toll from the blast as of February 22nd stood at 63 dead and 40 injured.
“In this type of market, everything is sold and even dangerous products prohibited by law, such as cyanide and dynamite. So we will have to look for the causes at this level,” the source said.
According to the source, the individual that has been arrested in connection with the explosion is the owner of the shop that was at the center of the blast. He is currently just being held for questioning.
The regional governor has confirmed the incident and the investigation in a statement, and has noted that security forces and health workers were deployed to the area to assist with rescue efforts. He also made clear that the site has been closed until further notice.
While Burkina Faso is the site of many major gold mines run by international companies, it also has hundreds of smaller, informal sites that are operated without oversight or regulation. Accidents happen frequently at these so-called ‘artisanal mines,’ which often employ children.
There is also the possibility of a terrorist attack.
According to reporting from CNN, “Burkina Faso, one of the world’s least developed countries, is under attack from Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State who seek control of mining sites as a means to fund their violent attacks. An estimated 200 people were killed in attacks by a local militia in a deadly two-day rampage for gold in Solhan, in the country’s northern Yagha province in June last year.”
Footage of the aftermath of the explosion was broadcast on state television on Monday, February 21st, showing bodies covered with sheets laying on the ground, and young men badly wounded in a hospital. The blast had managed to level tin shacks over a significantly wide area, and felled trees.
“There were bodies strewn everywhere. It was an explosion that managed to uproot trees and bring down houses,” said the source, who visited the explosion site to assess the damage.
