Dozens killed in suspected gas leak at Nigerian mine

The authorities have shut down the site in the state of Plateau and launched an investigation

At least 37 miners have been killed in a suspected carbon-monoxide leak at a lead and zinc mine in central Nigeria, in one of the West African country’s deadliest mining disasters in recent months.

The incident happened on Wednesday morning near the town of Wase in Plateau State, where toxic gas is believed to have built up in underground tunnels, causing workers to collapse near the end of their night shift.

“There was no rescue for them at the time because those who were coming for the morning shift had yet to arrive,” Safiyanu Haruna, one of the miners who discovered the bodies at the start of his shift, told the BBC.

Accounts of the death toll have differed. Some local officials and residents have said at least 30 miners died in the incident, while police sources cited by Reuters put the figure at 37. The Plateau State government said preliminary investigations showed that about 33 people were inside the mining tunnel at the time of the explosion.

“Sadly, many lives are feared lost, while others who sustained injuries are currently receiving treatment in nearby hospitals,” the local government said in a statement.

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In response to the incident, Nigeria’s minister of solid minerals development, Dele Alake, has ordered the closure of the site, which he said is operated by Solid Unit Nigeria Limited.

“The area was an abandoned lead site with the stored mineral prone to emissions of sulphuric oxide,” the minister said in a statement on Wednesday. He added that the company ceded the pit where the incident occurred “following agitations by villagers for empowerment.”

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Alake said a team of officials and investigators, consisting of experts in mining, environmental compliance, and artisanal cooperatives, has been deployed “to probe the remote and immediate causes of the incident and recommend sanctions.”

Deadly accidents are frequent in Nigeria’s largely informal mining sector, where artisanal gold mining is a major source of income in several mineral-rich states. In June 2024, miners were reportedly killed when a pit collapsed in the state of Niger, while more than 100 people were feared dead after a gold mine collapse in Zamfara in 2023. The incidents are often linked to unsafe underground conditions and lack of oversight.