Armed bandits kill SEMAFO mine workers

Canadian-based mining company, SEMAFO, says one employee and one sub-contractor lost their lives after armed bandits shot at a bus transporting employees to the Mana Mine in Burkina Faso.

SEMAFO said the bandits were fired at by policemen. The bus was transporting employees from the town of Bobo-Dioulasso.

SEMAFO says operations at the Mana Mine, located 80 kilometers from the incident, are not affected.

Earlier this week five gendarmes and one sub-contractor employee lost their lives at the company’s Boungou Mine also due to an armed incident. The company says that the two occurrences are unrelated. The Boungou Mine is located in eastern Burkina Faso; Mana Mine is located in the west.

After both incidents SEMAFO said it increased security.