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Tragedy struck the mineral-rich hills of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo this week, as a sudden collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine claimed the lives of more than 200 people, local officials and eyewitnesses told the Reuters news agency.

The disaster, which occurred amid the region’s heavy rains, has left the community reeling in shock and grief.

The mine, located some 60 kilometers northwest of Goma in North Kivu province, gave way on Wednesday, swallowing miners, children, and market women in a landslide of mud and stone. Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, spokesperson for the rebel-appointed provincial governor, told Reuters that some victims were rescued just in time, though many sustained serious injuries, with around 20 receiving treatment in local health facilities.

“We are in the rainy season. The ground is fragile. It was the ground that gave way while the victims were in the hole,” Muyisa said, painting a grim picture of nature’s perilous hand.

Eraston Bahati Musanga, the North Kivu governor installed by the M23 rebel group, confirmed that bodies have been recovered, though the precise toll remains uncertain, suggesting a devastatingly high death count. An adviser to the governor placed the number of victims at over 200, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Franck Bolingo, an artisanal miner at Rubaya, described the terrifying moment: “It rained, then the landslide happened and swept people away. Some were buried alive, and others are still trapped in the shafts.”

Rubaya is no ordinary mine. It produces roughly 15 per cent of the world’s coltan, a mineral refined into tantalum — essential for mobile phones, computers, aerospace components, and gas turbines. Yet for the local miners, life at the mine is a perilous struggle, with men, women, and even children laboring manually for mere dollars a day.

Since 2024, the mine has been under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, who seized the area following years of territorial conflict with the Congolese government. The heavily armed rebels, whose stated aim is to topple the government in Kinshasa, have expanded their grip over mineral-rich territory in the east, drawing international concern. The United Nations has accused M23 of plundering Rubaya’s resources to fund its rebellion — a charge Rwanda denies.

The disaster at Rubaya is a stark reminder of the harsh realities faced by Congolese communities living amid extraordinary natural wealth. Despite the DRC’s riches in coltan, cobalt, gold, and other minerals, more than 70 per cent of the population survives on less than $2.15 a day — a cruel irony mirrored in the tragedy of Wednesday’s landslide.

As rescue efforts continue and the world grapples with the human cost of both nature and conflict, the hills of Rubaya bear silent witness to lives lost, livelihoods shattered, and the fragile line between survival and catastrophe in one of the world’s most resource-endowed yet impoverished regions.