Overview
- Provincial authorities confirmed 32 deaths, while SAEMAPE reported up to 49 fatalities and said 20 people were hospitalized in critical condition.
- SAEMAPE said gunfire from soldiers securing the Kalando site triggered panic that sent miners rushing onto a narrow bridge, causing it to fail.
- The Initiative for the Protection of Human Rights called for an independent investigation into the military’s role; the army has not commented.
- Officials said access to the mine had been banned because of heavy rain and landslide risk, yet illegal diggers forced entry and crowded a bridge over a flooded trench.
- Operations at the Lualaba province site were suspended as searches continued, highlighting broader safety failures at disputed artisanal mines that employ millions in the DRC.