More than 200 dead after landslide at Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Congo | World News

More than 200 people died in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to local officials, in one of the deadliest mining disasters in the region in recent years.

The incident occurred on Wednesday, during the rainy season, when unstable ground collapsed at the mine, located in a province controlled by the AFC/M23 rebel group. The exact death toll remains unclear.

“More than 200 people, including miners, children and market women, fell victim to this landslide,” Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, spokesman for the rebel-appointed provincial governor, told Reuters on Friday. “Some people were rescued just in time and there are serious injuries.”

Muyisa said about 20 injured people were being treated at nearby health facilities. He attributed the collapse to fragile ground conditions caused by heavy rains. “We are in the rainy season. The ground is fragile. It was the ground that collapsed while the victims were in the pit,” he said.

An adviser to the governor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said the confirmed death toll had reached at least 227.

Rubaya is one of the world’s most important sources of coltan, producing approximately 15% of the global supply. The mineral is converted into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal widely used in mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines. Local residents dig by hand for a few dollars a day.

The mine has been under the control of the AFC/M23 rebel group since 2024. The United Nations accused the group of using Rubaya’s mineral wealth to finance the rebellion, which it said was backed by neighboring Rwanda, but Kigali denied the claim.

AFC/M23 rebels, who say they aim to overthrow the government in Kinshasa and protect the Congolese Tutsi minority, expanded their control over the mineral-rich regions of eastern Congo in a rapid advance last year.

(With agency input)