Tragedy at Sudan’s al‑Zara Gold Mine

On Sunday night something terrible happened deep in the sand‑filled hills of West Kordofan. The shaft at the al‑Zara gold mine, an informal operation run by local diggers, gave way and the earth swallowed the tunnel, trapping dozens of miners.

Rescue teams finally pulled the first bodies out on Wednesday, and the grim count has risen to 82. “We’ve recovered 82 corpses, but many are still unaccounted for,” said Suleiman Abu Hmeida of the Emergency Response Rooms, a grassroots group that tries to help communities caught in Sudan’s endless fighting.

The mine is located near Nuhud, a town that today sits under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF has been battling the Sudanese army for more than three years, turning the whole region into a patchwork of front lines, displaced families and, unfortunately, makeshift mining pits.

What makes the rescue effort almost hopeless is the sheer lack of equipment. “We only have one privately‑owned forklift,” a local official – who asked to stay anonymous – whispered. “There’s no heavy machinery to lift the tons of sand and rock, and the shafts go down more than 30 metres.” Survivors like Khairal‑Sayed Gabara, who managed to crawl out of the rubble, described the scene as a “massive, dire collapse.”

Al‑Zara is just one of thousands of tiny, unregulated mines dotting Sudan’s gold‑rich landscape. The country’s gold rush, spurred by the conflict, fuels the RSF’s war chest – a lot of that metal is smuggled out to buy weapons and pay fighters. Safety rules are a luxury no one can afford in such a chaotic setting.

This isn’t the first time a Sudanese pit has turned deadly. In 2023 a similar accident killed 14 miners, and a 2021 collapse claimed 38 lives. The pattern is grim, but the numbers keep climbing because the war leaves little room for oversight or proper rescue gear.

According to the Sudan Doctors Network, an early tally on Tuesday evening put the death toll at 67, and they warned it would rise as searchers continued. By Wednesday morning Al‑Amin Suliman, another survivor, said 60 bodies had been recovered, insisting “there are still people stuck inside.”

The wider context is bleak. Since the RSF‑army clash erupted in April 2023, the conflict has already killed at least 59,000 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project – and many believe the real figure is far higher. Aid agencies are stretched thin, and disasters like the al‑Zara collapse receive only the scant attention they deserve amid endless fighting.

For the families of the missing, the waiting is agonizing. “We’re just hoping someone hears us,” a relative said, voice trembling. With only a single forklift and no heavy‑duty cranes, rescuers are forced to dig by hand, inch by inch, praying they’ll find a living soul before the sun sets.

The tragedy at al‑Zara underlines a painful truth: in a country where war feeds on gold, the very resource that could bring prosperity also breeds catastrophe, especially when miners work without safety nets, equipment, or any real hope of help.