Seven die in African Barrick mine attack

Seven people were killed when police in Tanzania were called to deal with hundreds of intruders at African Barrick Gold's North Mara mine on Tuesday, the company said yesterday.

The FTSE 100-listed gold producer said "approximately 800 criminal intruders" illegally entered the mine and tried to steal gold ore from the site, which is located in the country's Tarime district around 100 kilometres east of Lake Victoria.

When the police arrived, they were set upon by the intruders, who, the company said, were "armed with machetes, rocks and hammers". "According to information received, a number of intruders sustained gunshot wounds, resulting in seven intruder fatalities and 12 injuries," it added.

Local police commander Constantine Massawe said this was the third attack on the mine in one week. "There have been two other attacks on the mine over the past week, but security personnel at the mine, with the help of police officers, managed to keep the invaders at bay," he said.

African Barrick, which is a unit of the world's largest gold mining group Barrick Gold, said the police had begun an investigation into Tuesday's incident, and that it had also commenced an internal inquiry into the matter.