MORE than 70 were killed after an unregulated gold mine collapsed in Mali, an official said on Wednesday.

There were about 100 people in the mine at the time of the collapse, according to Abdoulaye Pona, president of the Mali Chamber of Mines, who was at the scene.

The cause of the collapse, which happened in Kangaba district in the southwestern Koulikoro region last Friday, was under investigation. 

It was first reported on Tuesday in a Ministry of Mines statement that estimated “several” miners were dead.

Such tragedies are common in Mali, Africa’s third largest gold producer, where small-scale, informal mines are often accused of ignoring safety measures, especially in remote areas.

Karim Berthe, a senior official at the government’s National Geology and Mining Directorate, said: “The state must bring order to this artisanal mining sector to avoid these kinds of accidents in the future.”

The Ministry of Mines statement “deeply regretted” the collapse, and urged miners and communities living near mining sites to “comply with safety requirements.”

In recent years, there have been concerns that profits from unregulated mining in northern Mali could benefit extremists active in that part of the country.

More than 2 million people, or more than 10 per cent of Mali’s population, reportedly depend on the mining sector for income.