At the scene of the incident were both legal workers of the mining company and illegal miners. According to the governor, the cause of the landslide was heavy rains that weakened the soil. The provincial interior minister, Roy Kaumba Mayonde, confirmed this information.
“Despite the official ban on access to this area due to the danger of landslides, illegal miners still found a way to enter the quarry,” SudOuest.fr quotes him as saying.
According to RFI, the incident may have been triggered by a conflict between workers and military personnel securing the road to the mining site. The military opened fire in an attempt to disperse the artisanal miners, which could have led to the collapse of the bridge and, consequently, the landslide.
Rescue operations are ongoing, and the search for the missing continues. The association of artisanal miners in the region reports that the number of fatalities has already exceeded 49, as reported by the radio station.
