Burkina Faso investigates blast that killed over 60 at gold miners market

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The blast happened on Monday and the judicial source says the toll on Tuesday stood at 63 dead and 40 injured

One person has been detained and an investigation opened to determine the cause of an explosion that killed scores of people at an informal gold mining site in Burkina Faso, a judicial source said on Tuesday.

The cause of the blast has not been determined. It took place in a market for small-scale gold miners, said the source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak about the incident. The market was adjacent to the mining site. The owner of the shop at the centre of the blast has been arrested and is being held for questioning, he said.

Burkina Faso is home to some major gold mines run by international companies, but also has hundreds of smaller, informal sites that operate without oversight or regulation.State television broadcast video on Monday showing bodies covered in sheets on the ground and young men with bloody wounds on drips at a hospital. The explosion had levelled tin shacks over a large area and felled a tree.

 

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