STORY: More than 200 people were killed this week when a landslide collapsed part of the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of North Kivu told Reuters on Friday (January 30).

The North Kivu governor visited Rubaya a day after the disaster to meet survivors and injured miners being treated at a local medical unit. One survivor, miner Eliya Harerimana, said that he was swept away when the mountainside collapsed but was rescued alive.

Rubaya produces around 15% of the world’s coltan, which is processed into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal used in mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines. The site, where miners dig manually for a few dollars a day, has been under the control of the AFC/M23 rebel group since 2024.

An adviser to the governor said at least 227 deaths had been confirmed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media.

Addressing miners during his visit, North Kivu governor Habati Musanga Erasto urged vigilance and warned against the risks of unsafe mining, recalling that more than 2,000 people were killed in a similar landslide at the site in 2017.

The United Nations says AFC/M23 has plundered Rubaya’s mineral wealth to help fund its insurgency, backed by neighbouring Rwanda, an allegation Kigali denies. The heavily armed group says it aims to overthrow the government in Kinshasa and protect the Congolese Tutsi minority, and last year expanded its control over mineral-rich areas in eastern Congo.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: RUBAYA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (JANUARY 30, 2026) (NORTH KIVU GOVERNORATE - Access All)

1. VARIOUS OF RUBAYA MINE WHERE LANDSLIDE OCCURRED

2. MINE WORKERS AT RUBAYA MINE OPERATION WALKING AROUND

3. NORTH KIVU GOVERNOR ARRIVING IN RUBAYA DAY AFTER LANDSLIDE DISASTER TO VISIT SURVIVORS

4. VARIOUS OF INJURED PEOPLE LAYING IN RUBAYA MEDICAL UNIT

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Kiswahili) MINER, ELIYA HARERIMANA, SAYING:

"I was on the veranda, then we saw the mountain collapse and the earth carry us away. We were rescued, that's why I am here."

6. VARIOUS OF MINERS WORKING

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Kiswahili) NORTH KIVU GOVERNOR UNDER M23 ADMINISTRATION, HABATI MUSANGA ERASTO, SAYING:

"We sympathize with you for this tragedy that has happened to you. But we ask you to help us develop strategies to end these kinds of tragedies. I just learned that in 2017, more than 2000 people died after another landslide, with what has just happened to you today, we ask the population to be vigilant. It's good to look for money, but you can't have money if you're not alive."

8. MORE OF OF RUBAYA MINE WHERE LANDSLIDE OCCURRED

9. MINING OPERATION SITE