More Than 200 Killed In Landslide AT DRC Coltan Mine
A landslide triggered by heavy rains has killed more than 200 people at the Rubaya coltan mine in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
DRC’s Ministry of Mines said that about 70 children were among the victims, and others who were injured and evacuated to medical facilities in the city of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.
Fanny Kaj, a senior official in the M23 rebel group, which controls the mines, disputed the government figure and said that the collapse was caused by “bombings” and only five people had been killed.
Ibrahim Taluseke, a miner at the site, said that he had helped to recover more than 200 bodies from the area.
A similar collapse at the site in late January following heavy rainfall killed more than 200 people. At the time, Congolese authorities blamed the incident on the rebels and said that they were allowing illegal mining without sufficient safety standards.
Rubaya produces about 15 percent of the world’s coltan, an essential metal that is processed into tantalum and in high demand by manufacturing industries to make mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines.
The site was also recently added to a shortlist of mining assets that is being offered to the United States by the Congolese government under a minerals cooperation framework.
