A gold mine has collapsed in the east of Mali, leaving a preliminary death toll of 42 and many injured, according to Malian national television and local authorities.

More than 40 people, mostly women, were killed after an illegal gold mine collapsed in Mali on Saturday. The collapse took place near Kenieba, in Mali's western, gold-rich Kayes region. The victims had climbed into open-pit areas left by industrial miners to look for scraps of gold when the earth around them caved in,

The accident took place in an open-pit area people had gone into in search of gold. Informal mining is a common and dangerous practice in much of West Africa.

Mali rescue workers have retrieved 49 bodies from an artisanal gold mine that collapsed in the country’s west on Saturday, according to Aliou Diallo, president of the local environmental protection association Wassaton.

The collapse of an illegally operated gold mine in western Mali on Saturday has killed 48 people, a local official said on Sunday (Feb 16).

At least 48 people died in a tragic gold mine collapse in western Mali, officials confirmed. The accident occurred at an abandoned site formerly operated by a Chinese company. Authorities continue searching for victims,