The death toll following a landslide in a mine in the eastern part of the Congo on Tuesday has passed 200, the country’s government says.
A mine shaft collapsed at the country’s largest coltan mine in the rebel-held eastern part of Congo on Tuesday, eyewitnesses say.
The Rubaya mine is located about 70 kilometers west of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, which is under the control of the Rwandan-backed armed group M23.
– The preliminary death toll shows that more than 200 people lost their lives, including 70 children, says a statement from the Ministry of Mines on Wednesday. Many were also injured in the landslide.
A senior official from the AFC/M23 rebel group, which controls the mine, told Reuters earlier that only five or six people died in the accident.
Rubaya produces about 15 percent of the world’s coltan, which is processed into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal in demand by manufacturers of mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines.
The mine, which has been under the control of the AFC/M23 rebel group since 2024, was recently added to a shortlist of mining properties that the Congolese government is offering to the United States under a mineral cooperation framework.
