A gold mine collapsed in eastern Mali, killing dozens of people and injuring many more, according to Malian television and officials in the Kenieba district where the accident occurred.

It is the second major accident this year in the French-speaking West African country, which is one of Africa’s top three gold producers.

Late on Saturday, Malian television announced the collapse of the site at Bilali Koto in the commune of Dabia, with a provisional death toll of 42 and many injured.

The prefect of Kenieba, who represents the government in the locality, confirmed the incident. “The death toll of 42 should be definitive,” Mohamed Dicko told The Associated Press on

Sunday.

“The accident happened yesterday, Saturday. It was a landslide at a site run by Chinese nationals,” said community leader Falaye Sissoko. Dicko said authorities were still trying to establish whether the mine was operating legally.

This is the second time in less than a month that such an accident has occurred in Mali. On January 29, a landslide killed several gold miners, mostly women, in the Koulikoro region in the south of the country.

In January last year, an unregulated gold mine collapsed near the capital, Bamako, killing more than 70 people.

In recent years, there have been concerns that profits from unregulated mining in northern Mali could benefit extremists active in that part of the country.

“Gold is by far Mali’s most important export, comprising more than 80 per cent of total exports in 2021,” according to the International Trade Administration of the US Department of Commerce. It says more than 2 million people, or more than 10 per cent of Mali’s population, depend on the mining sector for income.

Artisanal gold mining is estimated to produce around 30 tonnes of gold a year and represents 6 per cent of Mali’s annual gold production.