More than 70 people have been killed after a tunnel collapsed at a Malian gold mining site last week, the latest disaster in a region prone to mining accidents.
Mali, which is among the world's poorest countries, is one of Africa's leading gold producers, reports AFP.
Gold mining sites are regularly the scene of deadly landslides and authorities struggle to control artisanal mining of the precious metal.
"It started with a noise. The earth started to shake," Oumar Sidibe, an official for gold miners in the southwestern town of Kangaba, told AFP, of the incident on Friday.
"There were over 200 gold miners in the field. The search is over now. We've found 73 bodies," he said.
Mali's ministry of mines in a statement on Tuesday had announced the death of several miners but did not give precise figures.
The government offered its "deepest condolences to the grieving families and to the Malian people".
It also called on "communities living near mining sites and gold miners to scrupulously respect safety requirements and to work only within the perimeters dedicated to gold panning".
Mali's mining sector is dominated by foreign groups, including Canada's Barrick Gold and B2Gold, Australia's Resolute Mining and Britain's Hummingbird Resources, which continue to operate despite the political instability that has plagued the country for years.
bd-pratidin/GR
