Orphaned Teen Turned Gold Miner Among Dozens Killed in Air Strike in Sudan's Red Sea Region

Altayeb Alhadi was six when his father died in a well collapse in Galli village, in White Nile state, south-central Sudan. Two months later his mother also died, leaving five children orphaned. As the eldest, he took on the duty of finding work to keep the family going.

At 14 he travelled hundreds of kilometres north, where gold mines are scattered across the landscape, hoping to earn enough to feed his siblings and keep them in school. His uncle, Alhadi Hamid, told Al Jazeera the family had warned him of the dangers. "He was ambitious," he said, adding that relatives already in the area worked in restaurants and other services rather than underground.

Altayeb first took jobs in transport and similar work. After hearing profitable stories from local miners, he began prospecting in the surrounding mountains. A few months after he started at a site near Jabal Al-Aigdat in the Red Sea region, an air strike attributed to the Egyptian military hit it on October 10. At least 72 miners were killed, including Altayeb.

A fellow miner, who spoke anonymously, said the attack came less than 30 minutes after they parted ways. People ran in every direction as several strikes landed within minutes. They found Altayeb with a hand and a leg blown off and a severe abdominal wound, and moved him to a safer spot near a mountain. He died within hours.

Altayeb worked with about 15 young men and children who used basic tools to pull gold from rock, working day and night and taking the material to nearby mills. Proceeds were shared according to the amount recovered and individual agreements. The former colleague said the group sometimes dug for two to three weeks to find a gram or less, which sold for about $100 to be split among them.

Egyptian authorities have accused Sudanese miners of crossing the border and reportedly linked some to gold smuggling, drugs and human trafficking. The Sudanese side did not respond. Egypt has also said prospectors crossed to mine near a concession run by an Egyptian company, but there is little independent evidence for the claim. Sudanese military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan reportedly ordered a fact-finding committee of prosecutors, judicial representatives and security agencies to investigate. Findings from an inquiry into a similar incident announced in June have not been made public.

Since war broke out in 2023 between Sudan's military and the Rapid Support Forces, the economy has collapsed, pushing thousands with no other income into artisanal mining in the north. Miners face collapsing shafts, unstable ground and air strikes, with little medical care in remote areas. Mohamed Awadalkarim, a miner in River Nile state for 10 years, said workers shelter in huts of burlap sacks and plastic sheeting and eat mainly lentils and sorghum porridge.

Research by Chatham House found artisanal and small-scale mining accounted for 53.71 tonnes, about 83 per cent, of Sudan's declared gold production in 2024, in government-controlled areas only. About one million people across Sudan's 18 states work in the sector, generating $1bn a year. Such mines are generally seen as outside the main war-funding networks, yet they have faced violence, including reported deadly attacks near the Egyptian border on June 16.

Altayeb's siblings now live with extended family, and people in Galli are organising community initiatives to keep his memory alive. "We will raise the children and care for them as he would have wanted," a relative said. "He was young, caring and brave, and he will always be remembered."