Gold Mine Collapse Kills 16 Illegal Miners in Congo

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A landslide at an illegal gold mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has killed at least 16 people on Wednesday. The accident took place at a shuttered mine in the town of Kampene.

According to Governor Auguy Musafiri of the province of Maniema, more than 20 people, including children and pregnant women were working in the mine at the time of the accident. 16 bodies have already been recovered from the accident site. Three people were taken to the hospital with critical injuries, he said.

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Illegal mining activities that lack necessary safety standards are common in countries across the African continent, especially in the DRC. The local people use primitive and old-fashioned mining methods, which has led to several accidents of this sort before also. It must be noted that at least 43 illegal miners were killed in a landslide at a Glencore mine in June this year. The World Gold Council (WGC) had recently launched a new framework for resposnsible gold mining.