More than 100 miners were killed on Tuesday, 20 August after a gold mine caved in at Zamboye, a border village straddling Cameroon and the Central African Republic (CAR), according to Cameroonian officials and local media. The collapse, which occurred around 2:00 p.m. local time, is one of the deadliest mining disasters in the region in recent memory.

What Happened at Zamboye

Gregoire Mvongo, Governor of Cameroon's East Region, confirmed the collapse in a phone statement, noting that while Zamboye is a border village, the mine itself caved in on the CAR side. 'Zamboye is a border village, but the mine collapsed on the CAR side. About three to five Cameroonians died. We are doing everything possible to rescue victims,' Mvongo said.

Cameroon's state broadcaster CRTV reported the death toll at over 100. Other local outlets indicated that 107 bodies had already been recovered from the debris as of the latest reports.

CAR Minister Confirms 49 Deaths, Orders Closure

Rufin Benam-Beltoungou, CAR's Minister of Mines and Geology, offered a lower but officially confirmed count after visiting the site on Wednesday. 'We visited the site where the tragedy occurred. We counted 49 deaths, including 34 CAR nationals, 13 Cameroonians, and two Chadians. In a meeting we held, some managers acknowledged the indiscipline of the miners,' Benam-Beltoungou told reporters.

He subsequently ordered the mine to be temporarily closed. The discrepancy between the CAR government's figure of 49 and the 107 bodies reported by local Cameroonian media has not yet been officially reconciled, and rescue teams were still working to reach miners believed to be trapped underground.

Community in Shock

Oriegene Dokna, a Cameroonian resident near the site, described the human toll on surrounding communities. 'We are shocked by the tragedy. Families have been mourning since yesterday. It is a difficult situation to accept,' Dokna said.

The Zamboye area is known for artisanal and small-scale gold mining activity, which often draws workers from multiple countries across the region. The involvement of nationals from at least three countries — CAR, Cameroon, and Chad — underscores the cross-border nature of informal mining operations in Central Africa.

A Pattern of Fatal Mining Accidents in Africa

The Zamboye disaster is not an isolated incident. In July 2025, five miners were killed after a gold mine collapsed in Narok County in southwestern Kenya. The site, Kilimapesa — located approximately 180 km south of Narok Town and home to Kenya's largest commercial gold mining operation — was among several Kenyan mines flagged for safety concerns. Authorities noted that Kenya's gold mining sector has been plagued by fatal accidents in recent years, raising broader questions about regulatory oversight across the continent.

As rescue operations at Zamboye continue, the disaster is likely to intensify calls for stronger safety enforcement and cross-border coordination in Central Africa's largely unregulated artisanal mining zones.