Government officials in the Central African Republic have ordered the temporary closure of an informal gold mining site located near the border with Cameroon after a massive landslide claimed dozens of lives. While the official body count stands at 49, reports from local sources indicate that as many as 100 people may have perished, with dozens still unaccounted for beneath the debris.
The government decision follows a visit to the Zamboye mine on Wednesday by Mines Minister Rufin Benam-Beltoungou. According to figures released by his ministry, the dead consist of 34 nationals from the Central African Republic, 13 from Cameroon, and two from Chad.
Emergency medical teams evacuated seven injured workers to a hospital in Baboua, located roughly 50 kilometers from the scene.
Distraught relatives have rushed to the site hoping to find missing family members. Among them was Roger Bana Nzala, who drove overnight from Bouar upon hearing that his brother was caught in the collapse.
“We weren’t able to find our brother; he is still in the ground, he is buried in the ground,” he said. “In the end, we are forced to return empty-handed.”
By Thursday, state forces had sealed off all entry points to the location and reinforced local security. Search and recovery teams were forced to call off operations due to ongoing ground movement and heavy rains that submerged lower areas of the pit, creating hazardous conditions for rescuers. Personnel from the Russian Wagner paramilitary group were among those deployed to secure the vicinity.
The catastrophe has reignited fierce criticism regarding safety protocols and oversight within the nation’s informal mining industry. The Mines Ministry noted that the incident underlines the inherent hazards of unregulated operations, especially in locations with substandard safety measures.
Civil society advocates, however, argue that government intervention is long overdue. Activist Crescent Beninga pointed out that these events occur all too frequently in the region.
“This is not the first time we’ve seen a mine collapse,” he said, drawing attention to a similar disaster in June at the nearby Be-Mbari gold site that left dozens dead.
The Zamboye operation, locally referred to as Moscow-RCA, spans a wide open pit along the Kadei River, which separates the country from Cameroon. Structural collapses remain a persistent danger across the country, where vast numbers of citizens turn to informal mining for survival while local mineral wealth is extracted with minimal government supervision.
