A child who was less than 14 years old embracing his shoes, and crying loudly, did not attract my attention, because I was assuming that he was under the influence of drug called (Aldaga minu) . Given the fact that drugs are widely spread in Singo gold mines in Darfur. So, later it became clear to me that he was crying for his brother who had lost his life after a collapse of a forty meter deep gold mine.
Following a tour by Darfur24 in Sinqu Gold mines , it found out that Gold miners in Sonqu area that located in the far south of South Darfur state, face great dangers amounting to death as a result of Gold mines collapse and death from deadly diseases
However, miners live in an environment that deteriorates due to the spread of open defecation near the dwellings and mixing it with the water of the valleys from which they drink, in addition to using mercury and cyanide to extract gold with their effects on humans and the environment.
Miners who come from various part of Sudan are exposed to injury such as cutting limbs or deep wounds due to the mechanisms they use in exploration, and the collapse of wells from time to time on their heads at a depth of 50 meters under the ground.
Singo area is administratively affiliated to Radom locality of South Darfur state, located 286 km South of Nyala city , and it is considered an important part of the Radom federal reserve.
Singo is located at the far western end of South Darfur, on the border triangle between Sudan, South Sudan and Central Africa.
Until recently, the area was a village whose number of homes did not exceed about 20, and it was not even on the map of geographical curriculum , while it was only famous for cannabi production. It’s worth noting that today, the area of Singo has turned into a densely populated city after the emergence of gold in more than thirty mines surrounding the area, the most famous of which are the “Agbash, Sarfaya, Kasra, Jumana and Dabaa.
One of the miners called Alhadi told Darfur 24, ” miners face many dangers in obtaining gold, by tracking the gold line in the wells to a depth of 50 meters underground, where natural breathing inside the well is difficult and the provision of oxygen is used by a fan operated with electric generator fixed on the surface of the earth”.
“If the generator is broken, the person inside the well dies instantly due to lack of breathing, the more depth of the well makes its fragile ground subject to collapse by the drilling, in addition to the proximity of the wells makes it collapsible, adding,” Therefore, there are many collapses in the mine, so dozens of miners die per week. Alhadi added. Miners working on windmill gold mining mills also get chest diseases due to dust resulting from the stone milling process. One of the dangers facing the miners is presence of deadly snakes. These snakes are dangerous because they retaliate by attacking miners and residents if one of their members is killed, so we resorted to avoiding killing them, if it happens that a miners come across a snake on the road, they let it cross without touching it and in this way we managed to reduce attacks by snakes ”.Alhadi further added.” A week does not pass without a well collapsing on miners , however, on Darab mine a week ago, a well collapsed on three people who died instantly ” Al-Hajj estimated that the people who die per month due to the collapse of wells or snake bites, amount to 10 to 20. The area also suffers from lack of water, especially in the mining places where mines are located far away from water sources, to the extend that a jerrycan of water is sold for one hundred pounds, which makes the people of distant mines dispense with washing clothes and bathing. Darfur 24 reporter noticed presence of health problems through the absence of health centers and scacity of medicines , while dealers are selling medicines without prescriptions at a very high prices.