Det er uklart akkurat hvor mange som mistet livet da to gruveganger kollapset i en gruve i Kolwezi-området, som drives av en datterbedrift av det sveitsiske selskapet Glencore.
Røde Kors mener at dødstallet kan være mellom 60 og 80, skriver nrk.no.
«At least 36 illegal miners are believed to have died in a copper mine owned by Glencore in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Thursday. The miners were killed when two ‘galleries’ overlooking an open excavation pit collapsed at the same mining site which claimed six lives in 2016,» skriver theguardian.com.
Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), a subsidiary of Glencore, has observed a growing presence of illegal artisanal miners throughout its industrial mining concessions in the Kolwezi area. This has led to daily intrusions onto its concession by on average 2,000 illegal artisanal miners per day. This has presented a significant risk to its employees, operating equipment and the illegal artisanal miners themselves.
Tragically there were 19 fatalities today, with possible further unconfirmed fatalities. The illegal artisanal miners were working two galleries in benches overlooking the extraction area. Two of these galleries caved in. These incidents were not linked to KCC operations or activities. KCC is currently engaged in assisting search and rescue operations with the local authorities, skriver Glencore.com.