List of mining disasters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The following is a list of mining disasters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Especially in informal artisanal mines, deadly mining accidents are commonplace.[1] Despite the frequency of mining deaths, many incidents are not documented.[2]
March 2001 – coltan mine 30 miles northwest of Goma in North Kivu province – at least 70 killed in a collapse.[3]
January 8, 2002 – artisanal coltan mine in Masisi Territory in North Kivu province – about 30 killed in a collapse.[4]
February 21, 2003 – MIBA mine at Mbuji-Mayi in Kasai Oriental province – 10 or 25 miners die under disputed circumstances.[5]
October 2004 – artisanal diamond mine near Kapangla village in Kasai Occidental province – 10 killed in a collapse.[6]
February 21, 2005 – artisanal diamond mine near Kapangla village in Kasai Occidental province – at least 20 killed in a collapse.[6]
January 5, 2007 – artisanal diamond mine near Tshikapa in Kasaï Province – at least 15 killed in a collapse.[7]
April 3, 2007 – MIBA mine at Bakwanga in Kasai Oriental province – at least 7 artisanal miners killed by collapse.[8]
August 19, 2009 – artisanal diamond mine near Mbuji-Mayi in Kasai Oriental province – 18 killed in a collapse.[9]
August 15, 2012 – artisanal gold mine near Pangoyi in Orientale Province – at least 60 killed in a mine shaft collapse.[10]
May 2013 – Rubaya mines near Rubaya in North Kivu – at least 20 killed in a mine collapse,[11] or more than 100 artisanal miners killed in a landside.[12]
September 7, 2015 – artisanal cobalt mine near the village of Mbaya/Mabaya 80 km south of Lubumbashi in Katanga province – 15 miners killed in a cave-in, and an additional 18 killed in similar incidents in the same area the week before.[14][15]
December 14, 2019 – Ndiyo gold mine in Ituri Province – 24 killed in a landslide.[23]
September 2020 – artisanal mines in Kasongo territory in Maniema Province – 3 killed in a collapse near Mukulungu, and 9 killed in a landside in another village in the same territory the week before.[24]
September 11, 2020 – artisanal gold mine near Kamituga in South Kivu province – at least 50 killed when trapped in a collapsed mine shaft.[25][2][26]
May 22, 2021 – artisanal gold mine near Bondo in Bas-Uélé province – 12 killed in a landslide.[27][28]
July 2021 – mining at the Catoca diamond mine in Angola contaminates the Kasai River, killing 12 people living downstream in the DRC and sickening about 4,500 people.[29]
November 2022 – artisanal gold mine near Ruabaya in North Kivu province – at least 13 killed.[30]
December 2022 – artisanal gold mines in Fizi Territory in South Kivu – at least 10 killed in mudslides across two sites.[31]
March 25, 2023 - artisanal gold mine in South Kivu - a collapse in an artisanal gold mine. Nine miners are rescued, and video of their escape is widely shared on social media, sometimes falsely associated with lithium mining.[32][33][34]
May 6, 2023 - illicit artisanal diamond mine near Diboko village in Kasaï Province - a dozen miners killed in a collapse.[35][36]
May 8, 2023 - Songambele artisanal coltan mine, located within the Rubaya mines in North Kivu - a provisional count of six deaths with as many as 100 miners trapped.[37][38][39]