15 killed in illegal mine in Democratic Republic of Congo

At least 15 people have suffocated to death while working in an illegal mine in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Mayor Deoda Kapenda said on Saturday that the deaths occurred on Friday in the city of Kolwezi in the mineral-rich province of Katanga.

“Fifteen artisanal miners died yesterday in a tunnel in Kolwezi,” Kapenda noted, adding, “The miners died by suffocation in a tunnel more than 20 meters deep. It was not a landslide.”

Scores of poor illegal miners put their lives at risk in search of minerals, including copper and cobalt, in Katanga.

Mining accidents are common in the DRC, where many Congolese try to make a living through small-scale mining under unsafe conditions.

Twenty people were killed in the DRC’s North Kivu Province in May 2013 when a mine collapsed following heavy rains.

The DRC, a vast country in Central Africa, has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country.

Despite its huge natural resources, the DRC is one of the world’s least developed nations.