Conflict · CAR mine collapseCAR Mine Collapse Buries Hundreds — Official 49, Witnesses Say 200+Aired August 22, 2026 at 3:49 AM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00A wall of earth gave [music] way on0:01Tuesday, August 18th, at the Zambo0:03artisanal gold pit in western Central0:05African Republic and buried hundreds of0:07gold panners at once. The pit, also0:09reported as Zamboi, Zamboi, Zamboi, and0:12locally known as Moscow RCA, [music]0:14sits in Nana Mambere prefecture, a few0:16kilometers from the Cameroon border0:18beside the Kadey River near Garoua0:19Boulay, about 50 [music] kilometers from0:22Baboua. The sharpest contradiction is0:24the toll itself. After Mines Minister0:26Rufin Benam Beltoungou visited,0:27authorities gave a provisional 49 that0:30breakdown of nationalities. The initial0:32report on August 19th put the dead at0:34more than 100, a figure echoed by Red0:37Cross volunteer Gervais [music] Ganay0:38Ngoro and the mayor of Garoua Boulay at0:40about 107. By August 21, witnesses were0:43saying more than 200 were killed.0:45[music] Hundreds were inside when the0:46slope failed. Residents told RFI nearly0:49500 people were working the expansive0:51open pit that day, busier than usual as0:53young people sought income ahead of the0:55school year. Videos captured the ground0:57giving way and burying people standing0:59on the [music] slope. 48 hours later,1:01dozens remained missing and buried with1:03families unable to recover specific1:05relatives days later and bodies still1:08being found beyond the first 48 hours.1:10The sequence moved from burial to1:11frantic hand digging to suspension. In1:14the first hours, rescue workers dug by1:16hand in unstable mud with limited1:17equipment and expertise [music] while1:19flooding made the pit dangerous to1:20enter. By August 20 to 21, work was1:23severely hampered and at times [music]1:24suspended as rain continued and lower1:26sections flooded. Authorities closed the1:28site, barred access, [music] and1:29reinforced security, including Russian1:31and Wagner personnel. There is no1:33reconciled final number because recovery1:34was incomplete and chaotic and1:36identification [music]1:36is difficult in a remote informal site1:38with mixed nationalities. Authorities1:40counted only confirmed recovered and1:42identified bodies while locals counted1:43observed and [music] estimated losses,1:45including those still buried. Early1:46local estimates had started at about 301:48to 40 before rising as more bodies were1:50found. Cameroon confirmed a small number1:52of its citizens among the dead and is1:53coordinating repatriation. [music] A1:55prosecutor said the casualty number was1:57still being established and opened a1:59judicial inquiry [music] into cause,2:01operators, illegal mining, and possible2:03liability. With no public roster of dead2:05and missing released, location explains2:07both the [music] crowd and the delay in2:09care.2:10The pit lies just kilometers from the2:12frontier at the Kadé River, drawing2:14workers from both sides. The nearest2:16hospital [music] is in Bamboua, 50 km2:18away, where survivors were carried2:20mud-covered with fractures and trauma.2:23Reports describe several [music] to2:24seven or more taken to hospital. One2:26account counting nine hospital cases2:28where one died on arrival and about 512:30[music] people treated on site by a2:32mobile medical team.2:33Some died later in hospital. The failure2:35was not a single rockfall, but a slope2:38and tunnel landslide of earth and sand2:39after about 72 hours of heavy rain.2:41[music]2:42The pit had been worked informally for2:44several years by a Central African2:45businessman from the region, who said he2:47was overwhelmed by an influx [music] of2:49clandestine operators without permits2:51with limited state oversight. The ground2:52was saturated, the walls had no2:54engineered support, the pit was2:56overcrowded, digging continued after the2:58warning to leave, and the wall [music]3:00collapsed without warning. This was not3:02an isolated failure. Rockfalls at3:04unregulated, often illegal artisanal3:06mines remain common in Central [music]3:08African Republic, where an estimated3:10150,000 to 200,000 people work in3:12small-scale gold and diamond digging3:14with [music] poor safety and little3:15oversight. A 2019 mapping of western3:18sites by IPS recorded 87 deaths and3:201,154 injuries [music] at surveyed sites3:23in the prior 12 months.3:24Older collapses killed 37 and 25 in3:27[music] separate incidents at Andasima3:29in 2013 to 2014, and dozens were killed3:32at Biambari near the Cameroon border in3:35June 2026. [music] That scale is why a3:37rain-softened, overcrowded, informal pit3:39that kept operating after warnings3:41turned into [music] a mass burial with3:43no rapid rescue capacity. The site stays3:45closed and under guard. The search3:47[music] has shifted from rescue toward3:48recovery as the chance of finding3:50survivors is described as near zero, yet3:52families [music] are still searching.3:53And the prosecutor's inquiry into who3:55authorized the work, what permits3:57existed, and whether warnings will lead3:58to enforcement remains pending while the4:00count is expected to rise. Two days4:02after [music] the slide, the border4:03community faces the loss of as many as4:05hundreds of workers with only a4:06provisional official number to market.4:08No comprehensive list of dead and4:10missing,4:10>> [music]4:10>> and no detailed conditions released4:12beyond the Babua hospital transfers and4:14on-site treatment as bodies continue to4:16be found and the pit remains barred and4:18unstable.4:19Like and follow for more stories that4:21matter.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗