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A sudden collapse at an unregulated gold mine in northern Angola killed at least 28 miners, including 13 relatives from one family.
Driven by extensive diamond and gold deposits, thousands of workers regularly travel to these unmonitored sites, often migrating from neighboring nations like the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Authorities recovered the bodies of 28 people aged between 18 and 45 years following the collapse early on Saturday at the mine in Bengo province, northeast of the capital, Luanda, a police official told national broadcaster TPA.
"These young people were extracting strategic minerals, namely gold, in this area and at a certain point the mine collapsed," he said on Sunday, adding that authorities were searching for other bodies. It is said that dozens of young people were mining at the site when the ground gave way.
Reports indicate a rescue department official gave the same death toll to local media and said that 13 of the dead were from the same family.
Bengo officials estimated there were around 7,000 illegal miners involved in gold extraction in the province, the Angola Press Agency reported.
According to local media outlet Ver Angola, the UNITA parliamentary group, Angola's main political opposition bloc, urged the authorities to assist the families, stating that the tragedy is 'the tragic and predictable consequence of a system that utterly fails to protect its citizens,' as the president of the group, Adalbero Costa Junior, asserted.
He also alleged that local authorities were repeatedly warned about the risks of this illegal activity.
In response to the crisis, municipal and provincial authorities are mobilizing to support the victims' families, particularly with funeral arrangements.
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