Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore speaks to media during the opening ceremony of Fespaco on Saturday. Photo: AFP

An explosion at a gold mine in Burkina Faso Monday afternoon killed at least 55 people and wounded a similar number, local and medical sources told AFP.

The blast, at a makeshift gold-panning site at Gomgombiro in the southwest of the country happened when a stock of dynamite blew up, said local officials and hospital staff.

A provisional toll put the number of dead at 50, a local official who visited the site told AFP.

But a hospital source said: "At least five casualties have succumbed to their wounds, bringing the toll to 55," adding that the toll could rise as some of the injured were in a critical condition.

Women and children were among the 60 or so injured in the blast, many of them in a critical condition, the source told AFP.

State television meanwhile reported a provisional toll of 59 dead.

A resident of Gomgombiro said the blast had been caused by a fire in an area where contraband sticks of dynamite were being stored, and which also served as a market for the mine.

The resident described horrific scenes from the blast site, which left a large crater and uprooted burnt-out trees. 

Antoine Marie Sylvanus Doamba, high commissioner for the Poni province of the country, said after a visit to the blast site that while the initial body-count had been 48, it had since risen to 55.

AFP