Cameroon Authorities have sealed about 30 gold mines this month after landslides killed 33 young miners while many others were declared missing.
Also, the authorities said it has sealed some mining sites owned by the Chinese as they are concerned about the working conditions that caused the tragedy within the seasonal gold mine community.
Yet, heavy rainfall on Monday has reportedly closed businesses in Kambele, a village in Batouri district on the border of eastern Cameroon with the Central African Republic.
But a 70-year-old gold miner Vidal Dula said he went in the rain to meet with officials of local mining company Invest Batouri, asking for help in burying his 27-year-old son Vincent Dula, who died at a mining site on Saturday.
Further, the father of the deceased, Dula, explained that Vincent was trapped in a hole when he was searching for gold with 20 other miners but his friends helped to recover his remains. He, however, regretted that the death of Vincent was a huge loss to the family because he was his only son.
Cameroon says Kambele is home to many Cameroonians, Chadian and Central African Republic civilians who are either working or looking for jobs in gold mines.
On Monday, Djadai Yakouba, the highest-ranking government official in Batouri, said he deployed hundreds of government troops to seal at least 30 gold mines in Kambele.
Yakouba said the facilities defied a July 2022 government ban on mining activities.
