Congo diamond mine collapse kills 18 people

A Congolese mining official says 18 people were killed in a diamond mine collapse in central Congo.

A Congolese mining official says 18 people were killed in a diamond mine collapse in central Congo.

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Jean-Marie Kabuya of the local union of artisan miners told UN Radio Okapi that the mine in diamond-rich Mbuju-Mayi collapsed on Wednesday.

He said nine bodies have been recovered on Thursday and nine more bodies were still inside the mine.

Congo is awash with gold, diamonds and metals such as cassiterite and coltan used to weld small pieces together in electronics.

The sprawling country, which is the size of Western Europe, also lacks basic infrastructure like transnational roads, making many of its mines difficult to access and near impossible to monitor for safety hazards.