Gold mining site blast reportedly kills 59 in Burkina Faso

By SAM MEDNICK
Associated Press

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso’s national broadcaster says at least 59 people are dead after an explosion at a gold mining site in the southwest. RTB reported Monday that at least 100 other people were injured in Monday’s blast in the village of Gbomblora. The explosion was believed to have been caused by chemicals used to treat gold that were stocked at the site. A forest ranger who was at the site during the explosion tells The Associated Press that there bodies everywhere following the blast. Small gold mines, like the one in Gbomblora, have grown in recent years with some 800 across Burkina Faso