The cause of the explosion in Poni province was not yet known, Poni’s high commissioner Antoine Douamba told state television.Bodies lay on the ground, covered in mats.
Burkina Faso is home to some major gold mines run by international companies, but also to hundreds of smaller, informal sites that operate without oversight or regulation.Burkina Faso, one of the world’s least developed countries, is under attack from militant groups linked to Al Qaeda.Monday’s blast was hundreds of miles from where these groups usually operate and there was no sign that militants were involved.