Mali
\nMore than 40 people, mostly women, were killed after an illegal gold mine collapsed in Mali on Saturday.
\nThe collapse took place near K\u00e9ni\u00e9ba, in Mali\u2019s western, gold-rich Kayes region.
\nThe victims had climbed into open-pit areas left by industrial miners to look for scraps of gold when the earth around them caved in, a gold miner\u2019s union leader told Reuters.
\nThis is Mali\u2019s second deadly mining accident in three weeks, after at least 10 people were killed when a mining tunnel flooded late in January.
\nReports of the exact number who died in Saturday\u2019s accident are conflicting.
\nA local police source told the AFP news agency that 48 people were killed in the collapse, while the head of an industry union told Reuters there were 43 victims.
\n\u201cSome of the victims fell into the water. Among them was a woman with her baby on her back,\u201d the local police source told AFP.
\nMali is one of the biggest gold producers in the world. Accidents are common in the country as much mining activity is unregulated, with miners using unsafe methods to dig for gold.
\nA spokesperson from the country\u2019s mines ministry confirmed to Reuters that the accident had taken place between the towns of K\u00e9ni\u00e9ba and Dabia, but declined to give further details.
\nMinistry teams are drawing up a report at the scene, Reuters reports.
\nThe collapse on Saturday occurred at an abandoned site formerly operated by a Chinese company, according to AFP.
\nBeijing is heavily invested in developing Mali\u2019s mining industries, with the approval of its government.
\nMali is currently engaged in a dispute over revenue sharing with one of the largest mining companies in the country, the Canadian firm Barrick.
\nLast month, the Malian government seized gold bars worth $245m (\u00a3194m) from Barrick and issued an arrest warrant for its CEO, Mark Bristow.
\nMr Bristow said he had \u201cno doubt\u201d the conflict would be resolved in an interview with Bloomberg this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mali More than 40 people, mostly women, were killed after an illegal gold mine collapsed in Mali on Saturday. The collapse took place near K\u00e9ni\u00e9ba, in Mali\u2019s western, gold-rich Kayes region. The victims had climbed into open-pit areas left by industrial miners to look for scraps of gold when the earth around them caved in, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-462006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n