Madar (Dakar) - Two children, aged 4 and 6, died in a fire that broke out at around 2 a.m. on Sunday 8 November 2026 at the Bantaco artisanal gold-mining site in the mining region of Kedougou, in south-eastern Senegal, Senegalese news site Seneweb reported.
According to eyewitnesses quoted by the site, the fire started while the site's occupants, most of them gold panners, were asleep. The flames spread quickly to makeshift straw dwellings, known locally as "niafa", trapping the two boys.
Despite calls for help and efforts by nearby residents to contain the blaze, the fire caused heavy material and financial damage, the same source said.
Members of the Mako gendarmerie brigade and rescuers from the National Fire Brigade went to the scene. The bodies of the two boys, along with a 10-year-old girl who was seriously injured in the fire, were rushed to the Amath Dansokho regional hospital centre in Kedougou.
The relevant authorities have opened an investigation to determine the circumstances and cause of the fire, according to Seneweb and Leral.
