At least 32 people have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a makeshift bridge collapsed at the Kalando copper-cobalt mine, local officials confirmed.
The incident occurred in Lualaba province, where heavy rains had flooded trenches around the mine. According to the interior minister of the province, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, illegal diggers entered the mine site despite a formal ban triggered by landslide risks.
Panic erupted when soldiers opened fire near the site, witnesses say, prompting miners to rush onto the fragile bridge. The bridge, reportedly hastily built to span a flooded trench, gave way under the weight, causing many miners to fall into the water.
A report from SAEMAPE, the government agency overseeing artisanal mining, said bodies were found “piled on top of each other” following the collapse. While 32 bodies have been confirmed, the agency warned the toll could rise to 40.
The Kalando mine has been at the center of a long-standing conflict, involving wildcat miners, a local cooperative, and the site’s legal operators, who are reportedly backed by Chinese investors. Authorities have suspended operations at the mine in the wake of the tragedy.
Human rights groups are demanding an independent investigation into the military’s actions, amid allegations that the soldiers’ presence contributed to the deadly panic.
The disaster spotlights the precarious conditions in Congo’s artisanal mining sector, especially in cobalt-rich regions. The DRC is the world’s largest cobalt producer a mineral critical for electric vehicle batteries but its mining industry is frequently criticized for unsafe working environments, corruption, and illegal operations.