At least 100 people have been killed in a landslide at a makeshift gold mine in the Central African Republic, according to local sources on Wednesday.

The collapse occurred on Tuesday at about 2pm local time at a mine in Zaboye, around 50 kilometres from the town of Bamboua in the western part of the country, near the border with Cameroon.

Search and rescue operations were continuing as authorities and local teams worked to recover victims from the site.

The reported death toll had risen sharply from the initial figure as information emerged from the mining area.

Earlier reports from the German Press Agency had put the number of dead at 33 and located the accident in the border town of Garoua Boulai in Cameroon.