Congolese authorities have confirmed the death of at least 32 individuals after a bridge at a copper and cobalt mine in southeastern Congo collapsed due to overcrowding on Sunday.
Reports indicate that the bridge which is used at the Kalando mine in Mulondo in Lualaba province, collapsed on account of overcrowding. The Province’s interior minister Roy Kaumba Mayonde, said during a press conference.
“Despite the strict prohibition on accessing the site due to heavy rainfall and the risk of landslides, illegal diggers forced their way into the quarry,” Mayonde said.
A report by the Congo’s Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Support and Guidance Service, or SAEMAPE, government agency on Sunday said the gunfire from soldiers at the site sparked panic among the miners who rushed to the bridge, resulting in the fall that left them “piled on top of each other, causing the deaths and injuries.” While Mayonde put the death toll at at least 32, the report said at least 40 people had lost their lives.
The presence of soldiers at the mine had long been at the center of a dispute between wildcat miners, a cooperative meant to organize operations, and the site’s legal operators, the report added.
