Bukavu, Congo
AP
—
At least 32 people have died after a bridge collapsed due to overcrowding at a mine in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local government officials said Sunday.
A bridge at the Karandu mine in Mulondo, Lualaba province, collapsed on Saturday, the province’s interior minister, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, told a press conference.
“Illegal miners forced their way into the quarry even though access to the site was strictly prohibited due to heavy rains and the risk of landslides,” Mayondo said.
A report released Sunday by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Small-Scale Mining Assistance and Guidance Authority (SAEMAPE) said that gunfire by soldiers at the scene caused panic among the miners who rushed to the bridge, causing them to fall and “could cascade over each other, causing casualties.” Mayondo put the death toll at at least 32, but reports say at least 40 people lost their lives.
The mine has long been the center of conflict between Wildcat miners, the cooperative meant to organize the operation, and the site’s legal operator, the report added.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and other products, with Chinese companies controlling 80% of production in the central African country.
Accusations of child labor, unsafe conditions and corruption have long plagued the country’s mining industry.
The mineral-rich eastern DRC has been torn apart for decades by violence between government forces and various armed groups, including the Rwandan-backed M23, whose recent resurgence has intensified the conflict and exacerbated an already severe humanitarian crisis.
