Overview
- Provincial interior minister Roy Kaumba Mayonde said 32 bodies were recovered after a makeshift crossing failed at the Kalando copper‑cobalt site in Lualaba.
- SAEMAPE reported that soldiers fired shots while securing the off‑limits area, triggering panic that sent miners rushing the narrow bridge and causing a deadly crush.
- Casualty estimates differ, with SAEMAPE and an agency official citing at least 40 and up to 49 deaths, while some outlets carried higher unverified numbers.
- Authorities had closed the site due to heavy rain and landslide risk, yet large groups of informal miners forced entry; recovery efforts and hospital care continue and operations are suspended.
- Rights groups called for an independent investigation into the military’s role at a disputed cobalt site; a local journalist reported two nonfatal gunshot injuries, while officials reported no gunshot deaths.