The Burkinabe government said in a statement on Monday that eleven people were killed due to the collapse of an artisanal gold mine on Sunday night in Bam province in north-central region of Burkina Faso.

The statement put the provisional death toll at 11 dead and 3 people injured. 

It said the department in charge of mines and the local authorities are mobilized to provide assistance to the injured.

While waiting to define the causes of this collapse, the government, which offers its condolences to the bereaved families and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured, asks those involved in artisanal gold mining to observe the necessary security measures.

The scramble for gold has grown in Burkina Faso as the country has experienced a mining boom in the last decade.

Last year, Burkina Faso claimed to have produced 60 tons of gold, up about 20 percent compared to the previous year.

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