The authorities reported that at least 32 people were killed in the landslide, but other reports indicate much higher numbers • The documentation shows a large crowd and commotion in the place – then a large wall collapses on the crowd • In official reports it was stated that the people “piled on top of each other” and violated the guidelines
A serious disaster occurred over the weekend in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the collapse of a copper and cobalt mine at the Kalendo site in the Lolababa district. According to the official reports, at least 32 people were killed, but according to other reports it appears that the number of dead is much higher.
According to the Congolese Mining Agency (SAEMAPE), about 30 people were killed on the spot, but an agency official told Reuters that at least 49 people were killed and about 20 wounded were taken to a hospital in serious condition. On the other hand, the provincial interior minister, Roy Kaumba, said in a video message that 32 people are known to have been killed. Another SAEMAPE report stated that at least 40 were killed. According to unofficial reports, the death toll ranges from 70 to 80.
The incident took place on Saturday, after a bridge in the mine led to a collapse following a great panic. According to SAEMAPE, the panic was caused by the shooting of soldiers assigned to secure the site. Following the shooting, the workers in the mine began to move in panic, thus causing a heavy load that led to the collapse. Official reports stated that the people were “piled on top of each other”, which led to the even greater number of dead and wounded.
According to local sources, the site was recently closed due to heavy rains and the risk of landslides, but “illegal diggers” insisted on breaking into the quarry despite the ban. District representatives stated that overcrowding and unauthorized intrusion contributed to the heavy disaster.
The situation at the Kalendo mine was tense even before the collapse. The presence of the soldiers at the site has long been considered a point of contention between independent diggers, a cooperative that is supposed to regulate the work at the site, and the company that legally operates the mine.
The Initiative for the Protection of Human Rights in the Congo called for an independent investigation into the role of the army in the incident, amid reports of clashes between diggers and soldiers. The Eastern Congo region has been in the last year and in general in severe and bloody tensions against the background of the war of the Congolese army against the rebels of the M23 organization supported by the Rwandan government.
The disaster joins a long line of fatal accidents in the unsupervised mines in the Congo – a sector that employs between one and a half million and two million people and supports more than 10 million others indirectly. In these mines, they often work in dangerous conditions, without appropriate equipment, and in many cases with their hands, and dig to extremely dangerous depths. It is estimated that every year hundreds of people die in mining accidents in the Congo.
Congo is the largest producer of cobalt in the world – a vital resource to create lithium-ion batteries, which are used, among other things, in electric vehicles and mobile devices. The mining industry in the country has been accompanied for years by allegations of child slavery, unsafe conditions and corruption.