Four prospectors who were digging for gold in Cambodia’s central province of Kampong Thom were killed when earth collapsed into the pit where they were mining, a Cambodian government official and a fellow villager said on Friday.
Cambodian Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith on Facebook quoted reports from a local official as saying that the four men who died had been hired by a couple who own the mine in the rural jungle village of Snong An.
The incident occurred on Thursday morning as the men were digging, said Ven Srey Tith, a resident living near the site.
Photo: AFP
Speaking by telephone from her home, she said the pit was only a little more than 2m deep, but mounds of excavated earth collapsed into it without warning and no one was nearby to see the men’s plight.
Their bodies were retrieved the same day and sent to their families for religious rites.
Mining without a license is illegal, and Ven Srey Tith said the authorities had told villagers a long time ago that they are not allowed to mine gold there.
POVERTY
Some villagers pleaded to be allowed to dig for gold because they are poor and need the income, she said, adding that most villagers farm for a living.
Despite the official ban, mining has been practiced near the village since 2012, and there had not been any major incidents until now, she said.
Other miners stopped digging on Friday, at least temporarily, after hearing of the incident, she said.
Illegal gold mining on a small scale is often tolerated, while licensed industrial mining for gold is carried out by a handful of companies, including from Australia, China, Vietnam and India.
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