US EditionMore than 200 killed after landslide hits miners extracting key smartphone mineral
Heavy rains caused unstable tunnels to collapse at an unregulated coltan mine controlled by M23 rebels, killing over 200 including miners, children, and market women, officials said.
- On January 31, 2026, rebel authorities said more than 200 people died in landslides at the Rubaya coltan mining zone, North Kivu province, with slides on Wednesday and Thursday.
- Heavy rains made slopes unstable and the mine's fragile soil and poor maintenance worsened risks as artisanal miners dug manually near shafts.
- Survivors and witnesses said victims included miners, children and market women, about 20 injured are receiving treatment in Rubaya health facilities, and many bodies remain buried with rescue teams continuing.
- Authorities temporarily halted artisanal mining and ordered resident relocation, while ambulances prepared to transfer the wounded to Goma as search-and-rescue efforts continue.
- The UN reports that since seizing Rubaya, M23 has imposed taxes on coltan trade, generating at least $800,000 a month, amid over 7 million displaced in eastern Congo.
243 Articles
243 Articles
The official numbers speak of 226 deaths. But the figures provided by groups of activists are even more dramatic: there are more than 400 people missing from the appeal. Miners, but also merchants and women and children who were on the spot. A catastrophe, so much so that Pope Leo all'Angelo wanted to remember yet another collapse in the umpteenth artisan mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Only in November had the images of the landslide …
Families mourn those killed in a Congo mine landslide as some survivors prepare to return
After a landslide last week killed at least 200 people in eastern Congo at a rebel-controlled coltan mine, families of the deceased and survivors are mourning their lost loved ones, and some survivors prepared to head back to the reopened mines. On Wednesday, following heavy rains in eastern Congo, a network of hand-dug tunnels at the Rubaya mining complex collapsed, killing at least 200 artisanal miners and trapping an unknown number who remain…
Congo-Kinshasa: Many Killed in Coltan Mine Disaster in East
At least 200 were killed when mines collapsed at a coltan mining site in eastern Congo this week, rebel authorities say. The Rubaya mines, where the disaster occurred, supply a key metal for smartphones and computers.
The government-prohibited site is under the control of armed group M23, which is used to export coltan to its Rwandan ally.
Kinshasa said it feared a "at least 200 dead" score, after a "massive" landslide on Wednesday at the giant mining site in Rubaya.
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