Landslide at mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo kills at least 227.

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.

Mining activity at the Rubaya Mine. Hasan Lali/BBC.

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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At least 20 miners killed in North Kivu mine collapse.

At least 20 miners are reported to have been killed in a collapse at a mine in North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Thursday 16 May 2013. The miners were apparently 30 m bellow the ground when the mine collapsed following heavy rain. A rescue attempt is being organized by the state government who are waiting on the arrival of heavy digging equipment. The site has been described as a 'bush mine'; implying that it is an unregulated mine with no legal status. There are many such mines in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, often controlled by militia groups and using forced labour. The industry is largely fueled by the demand for coltan, an ore from which niobium and tantalum are produced; metals which are used in the manufacture of mobile phones and computer equipment. Gold and tin are also mined in the area.

A pit mine in Kivu Province. Daniele Gobbin/Red Frame.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the world's second largest producer of niobium and tantalum ores (after Brazil), but benefits little from the industry. The country has suffered years of political instability and has extremely poor infrastructure, is heavily indebted and has a chronic corruption problem, which means that little of the wealth generated from the industry makes it into government coffers, and that which does is unlikely to be spent on development or other projects likely to benefit the population. These problems are made worse by a series of conflicts in the area, which plays host to rebel groups opposed to the Congolese government and militiamen that fled the 1994 conflict in Rwanda and have never returned. In addition the area has suffered incursions from several neighboring countries, mostly with an official purpose of defending borders against Congo's instability, but with a strong interest in the coltan industry. Militia groups linked to neighboring states also operate in the area, and again are said to be involved in illegal coltan mining.

The approximate site of the 13 May 2013 mine collapse. Google Maps.

The lack of government control of the area, and low regard for human life held by many of the groups operating in the area, means that safety precautions at mines in the area are almost non-existent, with many mines simply being large holes dug into poorly consolidated sediments. The area suffers extremely high levels of rainfall (it is the source from which the Congo, Nile and Zambesi rivers originate), and mines can rapidly turn into death-traps as their sides turn to mud and collapse upon the miners.

Miners in an open pit in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Getty Images.

See also Over 60 feared dead in Darfur gold mine collapse, Uranium mining to begin in Tanzania, Two Sierra Leonean artisanal miners killed by soil cave-in and Massacre at Lonmin Marikana Platinum Mine, Rustenburg, South Africa.

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