The mining area is controlled by the AFC/M23 rebels. Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, a spokesman for the rebel-appointed governor, said workers, women and children were killed in the incident.
More than 200 people have died after the Rubaya coltan mine collapsed in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The mining area is controlled by the AFC/M23 rebels. Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, a spokesman for the rebel-appointed governor, said workers, women and children were killed in the incident. 'More than 200 people were killed in the landslide. Workers, children and market women involved in the excavation died. Some are seriously injured,' Muyisa said. 'The ground is soft because it is the rainy season. The ground sank while people were working in the pit.'
According to the United Nations, the AFC/M23 group is seizing resources in the area to fund its rebellion. The group is also accused of having support from neighboring Rwanda. Rwanda has denied this.
The armed rebels have accused the current government of oppressing Congo's Tutsi minority. They captured Rubaya last year.
About 15 percent of the world's coltan is in the Rubaya region. It is processed into the heat-resistant metal tantalum. Which is used to make mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines.
