A race against time has begun in Burkina Faso to save eight miners trapped underground for two weeks.

Floods stranded workers in the mine on April 16, about 100 kilometers west of Ouagadougou.

On the day of the incident, the Canadian company Trevali Mining, which operates the site, announced the "disappearance" of the eight miners after the "flooding" of its underground installations in this zinc mine.

“It was after an evacuation alert […] that the absence of the miners was noted and a rescue operation was immediately launched,” explained a mine worker.

Rescue workers in Burkina Faso are trying to reach eight miners who have been trapped underground for more than two weeks.


The #Perkoa zinc mine was flooded following heavy rains last month.

pic.twitter.com/qxqldGd1tK

— Africa Again (@theafrica_again) May 2, 2022


Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent

By clicking on "

I ACCEPT

", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners

I ACCEPT

And to better remunerate 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our "I accept for today" button in the banner below.

More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.


Mine officials banned from leaving the country

Firefighters and military engineers were immediately mobilized.

Rescuers have since been busy pumping out the large amount of water that has invaded the mine.

The relatives of the eight minors have not heard from them for two weeks.

"We have no information on the level of research, nor on the chances of finding them alive," said the relative of one of the victims.

“What happened is the result of a certain irresponsibility on the part of mine officials,” said Burkinabe Prime Minister Albert Ouedraogo, who visited the site this weekend.

A few days before the accident, blasting took place on the open pit mine, which "weakened the gallery and favored this flooding" according to him.

An investigation has been opened and those responsible for the mine are prohibited from leaving Burkina Faso until further notice, added the Prime Minister.

For their part, the families of six minors filed a complaint against X for "attempted manslaughter", "endangering the lives of others" and "non-assistance to a person in danger".

World

Poland: Ten missing after second mine accident

Movie theater

“Underground”: Daughter of miners, director Sophie Dupuis knew where she was setting foot

  • burkina faso

  • Mine

  • Flood

  • Relief

  • Rescue

  • Investigation

  • World