Sudan Gold Mine Collapse in West Kordofan Kills at Least 82 People as Rescuers Struggle With Severe Equipment Shortages

At least 82 people have died following the collapse of an informal gold mine in a remote area of Sudan, according to local officials and grassroots relief networks. The tragedy at the al-Zara gold mine in Nuhud, a town located within West Kordofan province, has left dozens of additional workers unaccounted for as rescue efforts face severe limitations due to a lack of heavy machinery.

The disaster highlights the grave dangers surrounding informal mining operations in Sudan, a nation already mired in a devastating war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). West Kordofan province is currently controlled by the RSF.

Accounts regarding the timeline of the collapse varied slightly among local sources. According to a local administration official, the disaster began on Sunday when a single mine shaft collapsed, subsequently causing interconnected shafts to cave in. Meanwhile, survivors reached by phone and local medical groups initially cited Tuesday evening as the time of the collapse. The al-Zara site stretches over one kilometer across fragile, sandy soil.

Suleiman Abu Hmeida, a member of the Emergency Response Rooms—a grassroots network monitoring the conflict and providing community support across Sudan—stated that rescuers had successfully pulled out 82 bodies by Wednesday afternoon. A local administration official independently confirmed the recovery of 82 bodies. Earlier reports from the Sudan Doctors Network, a medical group tracking casualties, had put the initial recovered toll at 67 before it climbed further.

The search for survivors has been severely hampered by a lack of proper equipment. The local administration official noted that only one privately owned forklift is available for the rescue operations, complicating efforts to move earth and debris. Survivors described a desperate situation at the site, which extends to depths of more than 30 meters (98 feet).

"The collapse is massive and the situation is very dire," survivor Khairal-Sayed Gabara told the Associated Press by phone, noting that the machinery needed to lift collapsed soil and stones from deep underground was unavailable. The Kordofan Observatory, another monitoring group, reported that at least 70 miners were initially confirmed killed or missing at the unregulated site.

The al-Zara operation is one of thousands of small-scale, informal mines scattered across Sudan. The Sudan Doctors Network emphasized that the site lacked basic safety and protective measures for its workers. Deadly mine collapses are not uncommon in Sudan, where safety standards are widely absent; previous incidents include a 2023 collapse that killed 14 miners and a 2021 collapse that claimed 38 lives.

Sudan has been engulfed in an all-out civil war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese military and the RSF. The conflict has severely damaged the country's infrastructure, displaced millions, and pushed parts of the population into famine. According to experts commissioned by the United Nations, large quantities of gold have historically been smuggled out of Sudan to finance the paramilitary RSF, which controls major gold-producing regions in Darfur and Kordofan.

Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, a monitoring group, estimates that the broader conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, though aid organizations warn that this figure is an undercount and the actual death toll could be significantly higher. As rescue teams and volunteers continue their efforts at the al-Zara mine, local monitors predict that the final death toll from the collapse may rise further as the missing are accounted for.