Scores feared dead following gold mine sag in DRC

Nearly 50 people are believed to have died following gold mine cave in near Kamituga in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Emiliane Itongwa, president of the Initiative of Support and Social Supervision of Women confirmed the news in a statement.

Itongwa said about 50 young people were in the shaft, which was covered and no one could get out.

Report by The Guardian revealed that the cave-in occurred on the Detroit mine site at around 3 pm local time (13:00 GMT) on Friday following heavy rains.

The company’s chief executive said the mine was not located on the Kamituga gold concession owned by Canadian miner Banro Corporation.

Over the last years, dozens of people died in mines where often safety standards are barely followed in Democratic Republic of Congo.

At least 43 clandestine miners died in a landslide at a copper and cobalt mine in June and 16 others were killed in October at a disused gold mine last year.

Angella Semu

I hold a Bachelor of science degree in Agriculture Development Communication that I obtained from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. I previously worked with The Nation Publications Limited since 2018 before joining The Maravi post particularly on Agriculture Desk as an intern before I became a correspondent. Currently I am reporting for The Maravi Post mainly in International News and locally in the Southern region of Malawi.