TASHKENT, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- A mine accident has killed two men and injured two others while they were illegally digging for gold in the central Jizzakh region of Uzbekistan, local police said Friday.
The two men died after being trapped in a 15-meter deep mine following a rockslide, while two others survived and are currently being treated in a local hospital, it said, adding they were digging gold ore illegally.
Uzbekistan allowed private gold mining in 2019 that prompted dozens of individual entrepreneurs to hunt for gold legally, but reports indicate illegal mining still exists.
Uzbekistan's state media said last year that illegal gold mining in the Central Asian country involved some 10,000 people in a season and produced around one ton of gold every year. Enditem
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