DUSHANBE, July 20, Asia-Plus – Radio Liberty’s Uzbek Service reported on July 17 that a dispute among rival outlaw gold miners in Uzbekistan has ended with the death of around 25 people in a blast at an abandoned mine.

The explosion reportedly occurred on July 13 at a mine near the village of Kochbulak, around 90 kilometers southeast of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

RFE/RL’s unnamed source said villagers from Kochbulak regularly went down a nearby mine in search of gold.  “There was a quarrel between two groups. The losing side set fire to the supporting columns that held up the mine. The masonry fell on top of those that remained inside, some were poisoned by the toxic smoke,” the source told RFE/RL.

A local activist from Kochbulak cited by the broadcaster said rescue workers have recovered at least five bodies.

Illegal mining is reportedly commonplace across much of Central Asia -- the result of poor employment prospects and ample disused Soviet-era industrial mining facilities.

Uzbekistan is particularly rich in gold reserves, which are estimated to stand at around 5,300 metric tons, and was ranked the world’s seventh largest producer of the metal in 2014.

The industry remains severely underdeveloped, however, and is dominated by two state-controlled companies -- Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Complex and Almalyk Mining-Metallurgical Complex .

International investors are leery of entering Uzbekistan as those working in the gold sector have been squeezed out in what the foreign companies have termed as expropriations. 

That and the relative ease of access to gold reserves have reportedly created fertile ground for artisanal mining to flourish.