Seven men were killed and two others were seriously injured when the sand walls of a gold mine collapsed in Suriname, police in the neighbouring country said, according to Agence France- Presse (AFP).
Police inspector Bertrand Riedewald said the accident occurred late Saturday when a mudslide eroded the open pit’s 20-meter (65-foot) walls and buried the illegal miners, AFP said. The victims were mainly from the country’s Maroon indigenous community.
“Three miners were able to escape during the collapsing, while two survivors got severely injured and were taken for medical treatment to the hospital,” Riedewald said, according to AFP.
The mine at Money Hill, 93 miles southeast of the capital Paramaribo, belongs to the Surgold concession, a joint venture between US-based multinationals Alcoa and Newmont.
AFP says that Money Hill is popular among small-scale miners, and Surgold has often urged them to halt their activities in the concession area and warned of the dangers of the illicit mining.
In a statement yesterday, Surgold said that the accident took place in an illegal mining area located within Surgold?s Merian Right of Exploration.
“We have learned of a landslide that took place last night. Apparently artisanal miners (also known as porknockers) not associated with our exploration activities, had been working at the foot of a 10-meter wall in the area when the slide occurred,” said Esteban Crespo, Surgold representative in Suriname, quoted in the statement.
AFP reported that the company said that “the porknockers had illegally occupied Surgold’s right of exploration since late 2009” and “have been active in the area using unregulated, unsafe and illegal mining techniques.”
“The situation became so serious that Surgold stopped all exploration activities in the area several months ago due to concerns over safety and security, which was formally notified to the proper authorities,” it said.
President Desi Bouterse announced a period of national mourning from November 21-23, AFP added.
The seven bodies were recovered early Sunday, after the removal of dirt and debris.
Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Slijngaard, head of the National Coordinating Centre for Disaster Management, told reporters that miners were likely using a water hose to remove the soil when the cave-in began.
Meanwhile, the Suriname newspaper de Ware Tijd (dWT) is reporting that the victims are Surinamese men from the area between the ages of 18 and 50. It said that around 8 o’clock Saturday evening, a tunnel in which probably ten people were working collapsed. According to bystanders, an excavator was causing too strong vibrations. The bodies of the dead were removed yesterday morning and taken to Paramaribo for identification and autopsies. Yesterday afternoon, it said the Surgold concession area was closed by the authorities. The some 800 illegal porknockers in the area are now forbidden to work there. The ban reportedly will last ten days, but the possibility that it involves a permanent closing cannot be excluded, the newspaper said. Gold hunters, including many Brazilians, have already left the area, but it is unclear how many are still there.
Suriname Vice President Robert Ameerali has announced that the festivities to mark Independence Day will be more sober.
DWT said that the search for more possible victims continues. “We have information and suspicions that more people could be buried under the sand. We do not know how many yet, but in any case we will keep on searching”, Slijngard told DWT late last evening.
