The number of confirmed deaths following a landslide at a mine in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has now reached 227, with more people thought to be buried beneath the debris. The landslide struck at the Rubaya Coltan Mine in North Kivu Province on Wednesday 28 January 2026, and is thought to have been caused by heavy rain, associated with the bi-annual rainy season. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall. The victims of the event are reported to include women and children.
The Rubaya Mine is the world's single largest producer of coltan, an abbreviation for columbite–tantalites, the ore for the metals niobium and tantalum, which are vital to a the modern electronics industry. The Rubaya Mine produces somewhere between 15 and 30% of the world's supply of coltan, but is not a modern mining facility, instead being largely worked by artisanal miners with basic tools, digging into the side of Rubaya Hill. This sort of mining activity leaves sites particularly vulnerable to landslips as it creates exposed slopes with no vegetation to bind soils in place. The site is in an area under the control of the M23 rebel group, who are thought to earn about US$800 000 per year from the mine, although local labourers typically earn only a few dollars per day.
The M23 militia (officially the Mouvement du 23 mars) was formed in 2012 by former members of the National Congress for the Defence of the People, a Rwandan-backed rebel group which had become part of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo following a 2009 peace agreement, but left following alleged human rights violations by that group. The M23 militia now controls a large area of North Kivu Province, including many coltan and gold mining sites. It is widely thought to be associated with government of Rwanda, and the be selling minerals via that country, although the Rwandans deny this.
North Kivu Province two Rainy Seasons per year, with a rainy season that runs from August to January and another that lasts from February to July. Such a double Rainy Season is common close to the equator, where the Sun is highest overhead around the equinoxes and lowest on the horizons around the solstices, making the solstices the coolest part of the year and the equinoxes the hottest.
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