Forty-three illegal artisanal miners were killed at Kamoto Copper Co.’s (KCC), a subsidiary of Glencore, mining concessions in the Kolwezi area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to local news sources on Friday, June 28. KCC said the miners were working two galleries in benches overlooking the extraction area when the galleries caved in on Thursday, June 27. The total death toll was originally 19, but increased when more people were discovered under the collapse.
The incident was not linked to KCC, but KCC said it continues to assist in search and rescue operations with the local authorities. KCC said on average, it is seeing intrusions of 2,000 illegal artisanal miners per day. “This has presented a significant risk to its employees, operating equipment and the illegal artisanal miners themselves,” the company said.
