At least 27 miners have been killed after a gold mine in Central African Republic (CAR) collapsed on Thursday, local authorities told Xinhua Friday.
The Ndassima mine is situated 400 km north of the country's capital Bangui and 60 km away from the northern town of Bambari, Ben Ousmane Abakar, a local official, told Xinhua via phone.
"There were 27 bodies in front of me on Thursday and there are still more bodies under the earth whose number is unknown," the official said.
Abakar said it is rainy season in CAR so it is very risky to work in gold mines.
"They were always asked not to conduct activities in the mine at this time of the rainy season and wait until November. They do not obey," he added.
Due to mismanagement, accidents in gold mines are not rare in CAR. One similar accident in the same period of last year killed 35 people.