At least 10 people have been killed in the collapse of a gold mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a rebel-appointed governor of South Kivu province said on Thursday.
M23 rebels have taken control of two of the biggest towns in eastern Congo since January.
Douglas Dunia Masumbuko, the M23-appointed governor of South Kivu, told Reuters on Thursday that the death toll at the Luhihi mine had reached 10 “and could rise given the number of injured.”
He blamed the incident on “uncontrolled construction and poor maintenance of gold mines” in the area.
Mining accidents are frequent in DRC, particularly at small-scale artisanal mining sites.
With Reuters
