Diamond mine collapse in DR Congo claims 40 lives

On Tuesday, there was a diamond mine collapse in the central Democratic Republic of the Congo and 40 people were killed as confirmed by the local authorities on Thursday.

Alain Tshisungu Ntumba, Interior Minister of the Kasai provincial government, said the provisional casualty of the incident took place in the town of Samba and noted that at least six bodies have already been found and the search continues by rescue teams who are working to extract people from the accident scene.

It was reported that DRC has rich reserves of minerals like cobalt, diamonds, copper and gold.

Ntumba said the victims are all artisanal diamond diggers operating in underground wells and that tragedy affected more than 40 wells with a depth of 15m to 18m.