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63 dead, 70 injured. This is the latest, provisional assessment of the strong explosion on Monday February 21 at a gold panning site in the south-west of Burkina Faso. According to witnesses, a fire in a market spread to a store where dynamite was stored. The site, legal, has been closed until further notice to allow the investigation to be carried out.
With our special correspondent in Gaoua, Yaya Boudani
In Burkina Faso, 72 hours following the explosion that killed sixty people on a gold panning site, there is still shock in the city of Gaoua, capital of the south-west region. Although the region has already experienced several incidents on gold panning sites, this is the first time that an explosion of such violence has been recorded. The pain is mixed with the anger of the populations.
Will François is a tourist guide in the South West region. The Gomgombiro gold panning site is one of the places he offered to his clients. He is still in shock, three days following the tragedy:
« What happened is truly deplorable. It is unimaginable that such materials can be found in a site like this without prior precautions. If we have to reopen these sites, we still have to raise awareness, a lot. But above all, be a little severe so as not to have to relive this kind of carnage. »
In the city of Gaoua, the pain of the people is mixed with anger. ” It was the negligence of certain people that led to this tragedy asks a man, sitting alone. Lambert Soma was on the site a few hours following the explosion, and for him, the whole country is in mourning: “ I was really shocked because the explosion really deformed certain bodies, calcined certain bodies. Others were unrecognizable. It’s a shock. »
Young Augustin’s brother was at the Gomgombiro site on the day of the explosion. Wounded in the abdomen, he is being treated in a health center. Augustin hopes that the investigation will establish the whole truth regarding this incident. These inhabitants of the city of Gaoua want measures to be taken to put an end to the use of dangerous products on artisanal gold panning sites.
Law not respected
And that is the crux of the problem. Nearly 800 legal artisanal mines exist in Burkina Faso. Permits to pan for gold are issued by the state. This is the case for the concession of Gomgombiro. Yesterday, the operator of the land was arrested at the request of the prosecutor, he risks prosecution for “manslaughter”. For Antoine Sylvanus Douamba, the high commissioner of the province of Poni, the miners do not respect the laws, in particular those prohibiting the use of explosives.
« Once they have permission, they do whatever they want. Each time, we are confronted with artisanal gold miners. They are driven out of the north, they come here to look for food. But unfortunately, they do not respect anything. »
Responsible in Gaoua for the agency that oversees artisanal mining, Zoumana Barro is shocked by the heavy toll of the exhibition. He recalls that the mining code is strict since it ” prohibits the use of explosives and chemical substances such as cyanide and mercury in artisanal mining “since 2018.” Sensitizations have been made. They know it’s forbidden, but they hide and that’s where we are today. »
Faced with the silence of the witnesses, the governor of the province of Poni called on the population as well as the minors to a frank collaboration with justice.
Because of laxity, we are witnessing this kind of drama, it is deplorable. Our role is to enforce the regulations in force
Zoumana Barro, director of the office of the National Agency for the supervision of artisanal mining in Gaoua
