Earth collapsing keeps killing people in gold mining sites in Siguiri, a prefecture located in the norhteastern part of Guinea. In only two months, about 20 people have been killed in earth collapsing. During the night of Saturday, Feb. 25 through Feb. 26, 2023, two new earth collapsings occured in Doko, precisely in the gold mining site called Espagne and in Bouré-Fatoya, a district belonging to the subreprefecture of Kintinia. The first tragic event killed three people and the second one killed one person.

The dead bodies of the first tragic event were found in the evening of Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 thanks to the efforts of the local Red Cross team and residents of Doko. The victim of the second tragic event was extracted from mud and taken to Kissidougou where he comes from.

"After having extracted the dead bodies, we put them at the disposal of their respectives families for burial. We ask everyone to pray so as to avoid such tragic events in the future in our locality", said a member of the local red Cross team.

At Bouré-Fatoya, where the second tragic event happened, it took hours to find the body of the victim.

"After hours of search, the body of the deceased was found and put at the disposal of the authorities of the mine. We know that it is dangerous to practice gold panning, but we have no choice but to do it. So we do practice gold panning even though we know that we can die from earth collapsing at any time", said Moussa Traoré, a gold panner who witnessed the tragic event.

Feb. 25 through 26 has been the deadliest day since the beginning of the year in the mining sites in Siguiri. However, despite the numerous deads registered in this gold mining area, the guinean authorities have not yet taken any action to organize gold panning activity. This suggests that additional tragic events will keep happening in these areas.