Rescue efforts continued after the collapse of an informal gold mine in West Kordofan state, Sudan, where the death toll has risen amid challenging conditions and limited equipment. Local officials and activists reported that at least 82 bodies had been recovered by Wednesday, though dozens of miners remained unaccounted for. The collapse occurred at the al-Zara gold mine near the town of Nuhud, a remote area controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been engaged in an ongoing conflict with Sudan’s military for over three years.

According to multiple sources, the mine’s shafts gave way beginning on Sunday, triggering a wider collapse that affected interconnected tunnels where miners were working. Survivors described the collapse as extensive, with one telling responders that dozens of workers were trapped underground. The rescue operation has been hampered by the absence of heavy machinery, with only a single privately owned forklift reportedly available, complicating efforts to remove soil and debris from depths exceeding 30 meters.

The region’s artisanal gold mining sector — largely informal and unregulated — has long faced safety challenges, with inadequate protective measures contributing to several deadly accidents in recent years. Past collapses in Sudan’s mines have claimed dozens of lives, underscoring ongoing risks in artisanal mineral extraction areas.

A local grassroots group known as the Emergency Response Rooms confirmed the ongoing search and rescue efforts, while the Sudan Doctors Network, a medical organization monitoring the conflict and its humanitarian impacts, noted that the death toll could rise as operations continue. Witnesses and monitoring groups said no specialized rescue teams had arrived, leaving local residents to rely on basic tools and manual labor on unstable, sandy ground.

Experts have highlighted that Sudan’s gold production, which plays a significant role in the country’s economy, is concentrated in informal mining operations, many of which are linked to smuggling networks that have reportedly helped finance armed groups, including the RSF. This context of conflict and limited state control over mining areas adds complexities to both safety enforcement and emergency response.

Eyewitness accounts indicated that some miners may yet be alive underground, prompting calls for more urgent and better-equipped rescue interventions. The situation remains fluid, with authorities and local networks working to locate survivors and recover victims amid the broader challenges posed by ongoing conflict and resource scarcity in the region.