At least six people were killed Tuesday when a shaft collapsed at the Democratic Republic of Congo's largest coltan mine in the rebel-held east of the country, witnesses told AFP.
Three women and three men died when a mine shaft collapsed at Rubaya, about 70 kilometers west of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. Others were seriously injured. "People died and others were seriously injured," said a witness named Daniel, reached by telephone from Goma. After authorities ordered the evacuation, he said he saw two bodies on stretchers.
“They recovered six bodies: three women and three men,” said another witness who declined to give his name. Relatives rushed to the mine seeking news of their families. Thousands of artisanal miners work in precarious conditions in the Rubaya pits, most equipped with only shovels and rubber boots.
The vast Rubaya site, which accounts for between 15 and 30% of global coltan production, has been controlled by M23 rebels since April 2024. This Rwandan-backed movement earns around $800,000 a month from the mine through a tax of $7 per kilogram on the production and sale of coltan.
The collapse occurred in an area of the mine known as the Gasasa quarry. This is the second fatal collapse in Rubaya in recent weeks. The government has expressed fears that at least 200 people were killed in a massive landslide late last month.
Since its resurgence in 2021, the M23 has seized vast swathes of eastern DRC, exploiting a resource-rich region ravaged by conflict for three decades. Fighting has intensified in the Rubaya region in recent days, with a drone strike on February 24 killing M23 military spokesman Willy Ngoma.
