A Landslide in Eastern Congo’s South Kivu Province Killed at Least 4 People and Some 20 are Missing

8:59 AM EST, December 25, 2023

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Heavy rains triggered a landslide in eastern Congo overnight that killed at least four people and left at least 20 others missing, a local official said.

The landslide late Sunday happened near the town of Kamituga in South Kivu province, according to Deputy Mayor Alexandre Ngandu Kamundala.

Some 25 people, mostly miners, were sheltering from the rains in a cabin when the landslide hit them, sweeping them into a fast flowing river below, Kamundala said.

“Five people were narrowly saved and 20 others were swept away by the waters. Four lifeless bodies were found,” Kamundala said. A search and rescue effort was underway to find the missing.

In 2020, at least 50 people in the same town of Kamituga died in a landslide that hit their gold mine site.

Deadly accidents are common in Congo’s many unregulated mines, with many going unreported due to their remote locations in hills and forests.