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At least six people died on Tuesday when a shaft collapsed at the Rubaya coltan mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, witnesses said.
Three women and three men were killed in the accident at the mine, located about 70 kilometres west of Goma in North Kivu province, while several others were seriously injured.
A witness, who asked not to be named, confirmed to AFP that “they recovered six bodies: three women and three men.”
Relatives rushed to the site seeking news of loved ones.
The collapse occurred in a section of the mine known as the Gasasa quarry. It follows a previous fatal incident at Rubaya, where the government feared that a landslide at the end of last month had killed as many as 200 people.
Thousands of artisanal miners work in precarious conditions at Rubaya, often using only shovels and rubber boots. The site, which produces between 15 and 30 percent of the world’s coltan, has been under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group since April 2024.
The group reportedly earns around $800,000 a month from the mine through a $ 7-per-kilogram tax on coltan production and sales.
M23 has seized large areas of eastern DR Congo since its resurgence in 2021, exploiting the mineral-rich region, which has been affected by conflict for more than three decades.
Fighting around Rubaya has intensified recently, with a drone strike on February 24 killing the group’s military spokesman, Willy Ngoma.
