At least 11 miners were killed after a gold mine collapsed in Sudan, a state-owned mining company announced on Sunday.

The Sudanese Mineral Resources Company (SMRC) said the collapse occurred in an "artisanal shaft in the Kirsh al-Fil mine" in the government-controlled area of Houeid over the weekend.

Seven other workers were injured and taken to hospital, according to the company.

Sudan is a major exporter of gold, but collapses at artisanal and small-scale mines are common due to poor safety standards.

SMRC said it had previously suspended work in the mine that collapsed and "warned against its continuing activity due to its posing great risk to life."

Gold funding Sudan's civil war

Sudan is in the midst of a brutal civil war between the military and a paramilitary called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Both sides' war efforts have largely been funded by gold mining since the fighting broke out in 2023.

According to mining industry sources and experts, much of the gold extracted in Sudan is smuggled to neighboring Chad, South Sudan or Egypt before reaching the Untied Arab Emirates — the world's second-largest gold exporter.

The UAE is widely accused of arming the RSF.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war and 13 million others have been displaced.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic