The collapse of a goldmine in northeastern Afghanistan killed at least 30 people. According to the authorities, the accident occurred today in the district of Kohistan in the province of Badakhshan. Seven other people were injured, said district governor Mohammad Rustam Raghi AFP.
Villagers had dug a 60-meter-deep shaft in a riverbed to search for gold. They were in the shaft when the walls collapsed.
Cause of collapse unclear
Why the shaft collapsed is unclear. However, provincial governor Nik Mohammad Nasari told AFP that the people in the mine were not professional miners.
„The villagers have been in this business for decades without the government controlling them,“ Nasari said. The authorities sent rescue workers to the scene of the accident. The villagers had already begun to recover corpses on their own.
