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At least 32 people were killed in southeastern Congo after a bridge at a copper and cobalt mine collapsed due to overcrowding, a regional official said on Sunday.The bridge at the Kalando mine in Mulondo in Lualaba province gave way on Saturday, regional interior minister Roy Kaumba Mayonde told reporters. He said illegal miners had entered the restricted site despite warnings tied to heavy rainfall and the risk of landslides. “Despite the strict prohibition on accessing the site due to heavy rainfall and the risk of landslides, illegal diggers forced their way into the quarry,” Mayonde said.A report from Congo’s Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Support and Guidance Service, known as SAEMAPE, said soldiers fired gunshots at the site, triggering panic among miners who rushed toward the bridge. The agency said the collapse left victims “piled on top of each other causing the deaths and injuries.” While Mayonde placed the toll at at least 32, the SAEMAPE report said no fewer than 40 people had died.According to the report, the presence of soldiers at the mine had long been a point of contention between wildcat miners, a cooperative set up to manage activities, and the mine’s licensed operators.Congo is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a key component in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and other technologies. Chinese companies control about 80 percent of the country’s cobalt output.The sector has faced longstanding allegations involving child labour, unsafe working conditions, and corruption. The wider mineral-rich eastern Congo has also been destabilised for decades by conflict involving government forces and multiple armed groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23, whose renewed offensive has deepened the region’s humanitarian crisis.(With inputs from Associated press)
