DR Congo: 2 killed, 10 injured in gold mine collapse

By Pascal Mulegwa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo

Two miners were killed and 10 others seriously injured when a gold mine collapsed Wednesday in the eastern province of South Kivu, local sources told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

"The landslide occurred in a dilapidated gold mine long abandoned by industrialists because of insecurity," Richard Kaseke, leader of a civil society group in Mwenga territory said.

Two young miners died on the spot and "not less than ten others were seriously injured," he added without giving the cause of the collapse.

The incident occurred two days after a heavy rainfall hit the mining town of Kamituga, 180 kilometers (111 miles) west of the provincial capital, Bukavu, according to Kaseke.

Amisi Kuonewa, provincial minister of mines in South Kivu told Anadolu Agency that these mines were not controlled by the state.

Kuonewa accused the miners of "completely ignoring the mining standards," and promised to make arrangements to tackle clandestine mining of minerals in this gold-rich territory.

Accidents in artisanal mining occur regularly in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a region rich in minerals and torn apart by more than 20 years of armed conflict fueled by natural resources and inter-ethnic dispute.

Numerous militia groups operate in eastern and central DRC.