Families in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are mourning after a deadly landslide at the Rubaya mining complex claimed at least 200 lives, even as economic hardship forces surviving miners to consider returning to the dangerous site.
The tragedy occurred last week when heavy rainfall caused a network of hand-dug tunnels at the coltan mine to collapse. The Rubaya mining area, located about 40 kilometres west of Goma, has been under the control of Rwandan-backed M23 rebels since early 2024. While authorities and local leaders have confirmed at least 200 deaths, an unknown number of miners are still missing beneath the debris.
In Goma’s Mugunga neighbourhood, grief hangs heavy at the home of Bosco Nguvumali Kalabosh, a 39-year-old miner who died in the collapse. Relatives and neighbours have gathered daily since Thursday, sitting quietly around a framed photograph of Kalabosh propped against the wall.
“He was supposed to return to Goma on Thursday,” his older brother, Thimothée Kalabosh Nzanga, said, struggling to come to terms with the loss.
Kalabosh had worked in the mines for more than a decade and reportedly owned mining pits at the Rubaya site. Artisanal mining, his family explained, had been passed down through generations. He is survived by his wife and four young children, the eldest just five years old.
Despite the scale of the tragedy, survivors say poverty leaves them with few alternatives. Tumaini Munguiko, who narrowly escaped the collapse, visited Kalabosh’s family to offer condolences and described the painful reality facing miners.
“Seeing our peers die is very painful,” he said. “But despite the pain, we are forced to return to the mines to survive.”
Munguiko said he has lived through several similar incidents over the years, noting that deadly collapses have become almost routine at the site. “We accept it because it is our means of survival. I was saved this time, but I lost five friends and my older brother,” he added.
According to miners, landslides are especially common during the rainy season, when the clay-rich soil becomes unstable. Long, narrow tunnels are dug with little or no structural support, often running parallel to one another, creating the risk that a single collapse can trigger multiple cave-ins.
A former miner familiar with operations at Rubaya said the lack of oversight and safety measures has made the site increasingly hazardous. In some pits, he explained, hundreds of miners can be working at the same time, with no clear evacuation routes in the event of an emergency.
“There is no control,” he said. “People dig everywhere, without safety standards. When one tunnel collapses, it can destroy many others at once.”
Compensation for victims’ families, he added, is rare and often inadequate. “The diggers don’t have insurance. At best, families may receive small amounts to cover funeral expenses, but that is not real compensation.”
Kalabosh’s family confirmed they have received no financial support since his death. Still, both his brother and survivors like Munguiko say returning to the mines feels inevitable.
“I have no choice,” Munguiko said. “Our whole life is there.”
The Rubaya mines are a major source of coltan, a mineral essential for the production of mobile phones, computers, and military and aerospace equipment. Control of the area has made it a strategic and economic flashpoint in eastern Congo’s long-running conflict.
The Congolese government has accused the M23 rebels of illegally exploiting natural resources from the region, allegations the group has denied. An M23 spokesperson rejected claims of responsibility for unsafe conditions at the mine, accusing the government of politicising the tragedy.
As families continue to bury their dead, the disaster has once again highlighted the human cost of unregulated mining and conflict-driven resource exploitation in eastern Congo, where survival often comes at the risk of death.
