/
RSS Feed
Rescue efforts are underway in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where artisanal miners have been using bare hands and rudimentary tools to save colleagues trapped underground after a mine collapse in Lomera, South Kivu province.
At least six miners have been pulled out alive — one of them seriously injured — since the shafts gave way early Sunday morning, local journalist Ashuza Barack said. Conflicting reports surround the death toll, with some residents claiming 12 bodies have been recovered, though Barack says no bodies have yet been found.
The area has seen a surge in gold mining activity since late last year, turning what was once a quiet village into a chaotic sprawl of makeshift shafts and shelters. The gold rush has drawn thousands of artisanal miners working without oversight or safety precautions, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which also recently warned of a cholera outbreak in the overcrowded settlement.
The collapse is believed to have been triggered by a series of cascading landslides, which buried up to 15 hand-dug shafts. Rescue operations have been hampered by debris, large stones, and a lack of proper equipment.
“We’ve been digging since Sunday night, but we are exhausted and haven’t recovered any bodies,” one miner said.
Lomera is located in a region now controlled by M23 rebels, who seized large parts of eastern DR Congo earlier this year, including the strategic city of Goma. M23 leaders visited the collapse site and have since ordered a halt to mining operations in some parts of the area. The group denies reports that hundreds of miners remain trapped underground.
Eastern DR Congo is rich in minerals vital to the global electronics industry, but most mining is unregulated and extremely dangerous. The region has also been plagued by armed conflict for decades, as rebel groups and government forces vie for control of its vast resources.
A ceasefire deal between the M23 and the Congolese government was signed over the weekend in Qatar, but the humanitarian and safety crises in mining areas like Lomera persist.
