Kolwezi: 17 dead in 3 months at the Tulizembe quarry

In three months, the artisanal mining quarry of Tulizembe on the outskirts of Kolwezi has recorded 17 deaths. The victims are artisanal miners who died in the landslides. The Southern African Natural Resources Observatory (SARW) fears that these incidents could tarnish the reputation of Congolese cobalt.

The latest incident occurred at the Tulizembe quarry on the night of June 13 to 14. Indeed, nine artisanal miners lost their lives in the landslide. All the bodies have been pulled from the rubble, says Alain Kapaka, general manager of the CMKK cooperative. However, he said, only the families of two victims have been found. In addition, on April 16, another landslide caused the death of 8 diggers in the same area.

Mr. Alain, general manager of the cooperative, assures that the victims are illegal operators.

» Our mining quarry had 2,000 operators. But today, that number has doubled. We are at 5,000 and we do not know where most of them come from. »

He also claims that these operators broke into the mine at night.

» They will dig on a corner of the mine that is forbidden to access. The public service of SAEMAP has already placed barriers there. Despite this, they brave these obstacles without the knowledge of the guards. »