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A mine collapse in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed the lives of approximately 100 people, according to local police reports on Sunday.
A police official confirmed that “the incident occurred Friday afternoon at the village mine of Mulondo Lualaba, near the city of Kolwezi in Lualaba Province.”
While initial reports indicated that “up to 70 workers were buried under the landslide,” the number of bodies recovered rose to 101 by Saturday morning, and rescue teams continue their efforts, with fears that more victims may be trapped under the rubble.
The head of the Global Refugee Leaders Forum in Kolwezi told the German news agency that “many of those who were buried and recovered are internally displaced persons.”
Lualaba Province Governor Fifi Masuka attributed the collapse to heavy rainfall that the area has experienced recently.
The fragile security situation in many parts of Congo makes work in informal mines risky, attracting many adults and children seeking livelihoods to these sites, often under unsafe conditions.
