Resident and survivors’ accounts have said that at least 100 people are feared dead at a Zamfara State gold mining site when the pit where artisanal miners were working underground caved in.
The incident took place on Thursday at the Kadauri site in Maru Local Government Area.
Rescue operations, led by community volunteers, continued into Friday as hopes dwindled for those still trapped beneath the rubble.
Sanusi Auwal, a resident assisting with the rescue, confirmed that 13 bodies had been recovered so far, including that of his cousin. “There were over a hundred miners inside when it happened,” he said.
Isa Sani, one of the few survivors, recounted the harrowing experience from his hospital bed. “Only 15 of us made it out alive,” he said, visibly shaken.
Muhammadu Isa, a representative of the Zamfara State Miners Association, acknowledged the scale of the disaster and noted that some rescuers also lost their lives due to suffocation while attempting to reach those buried.
Zamfara has long grappled with the dangers of illegal mining, where unregulated operations and the presence of armed groups have turned gold fields into zones of frequent violence and deadly accidents.