An exceptionally large landslide occurred Tuesday afternoon at the Rubaya mining site, located about 70 kilometers west of Goma, in the province of North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to a statement released Wednesday by the Congolese government, the provisional death toll stands at over 200, including approximately 70 children, as well as numerous injured transferred to health facilities in Goma.
This mining town, sprawling across several dozen square kilometers, has been under the control of the anti-government group M23 since April 2024, while Congolese authorities have been absent since then. The DRC, a country rich in natural resources, supplies between 15% and 30% of the world's coltan production, a strategic mineral for the electronics industry, of which it is estimated to hold nearly 60% of the world's reserves.
Information about this tragedy could not be independently verified, as access to this remote region is limited for humanitarian organizations and health facilities, and telecommunications are regularly disrupted.
The M23, supported by Kigali and the Rwandan army, has seized vast territories in eastern DRC since the end of 2021, a region already weakened by three decades of conflict.
