A rainfall-triggered landslide caused multiple artisanal mine pits to collapse at the Rubaya coltan mining area in North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on January 28, 2026, killing more than 200 people.
Satellite image positioned over Rubaya coltan mine, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: EUMETSAT/Meteosat, Zoom Earth, The Watchers. Acquired at 15:10 UTC on January 28, 2026
A deadly landslide struck the Rubaya coltan mining area in North Kivu province on January 28, when rain-saturated slopes gave way and triggered the collapse of multiple artisanal mining pits.
The incident occurred during the regional rainy season, when prolonged precipitation weakens soil cohesion and increases the likelihood of slope failure in steep, disturbed terrain.
The collapse took place in an area where artisanal mining pits are excavated manually, with little or no structural reinforcement. Excavated material is commonly piled along pit edges or downslope, increasing the load on already unstable ground. During periods of sustained rainfall, water infiltration reduces shear strength in the soil, raises pore-water pressure, and allows gravity-driven failure to occur with little warning.
Officials and witnesses said the first landslide triggered further collapses in nearby mining pits. As slopes failed in sequence, workers and civilians present near the mining area were unable to escape the advancing debris.
The Rubaya site is dominated by artisanal and informal mining operations, in which pits are often dug close together and laterally expanded without geotechnical assessment. Such practices increase the risk of interconnected failures when ground conditions deteriorate.
Lubumba Kambere Muyisa, spokesperson for the rebel-appointed provincial governor, confirmed the death toll exceeded 200 and that some bodies had not yet been recovered. The dead included miners, children and market women.
Dozens of injured survivors were transported to nearby medical facilities, while authorities ordered a temporary halt to mining activity and urged people living near unstable ground to move away from high-risk areas.
The Rubaya mining area lies in a conflict-affected region where access, oversight, and emergency response capacity are limited. This complicated both hazard mitigation and post-event assessment, leaving uncertainties regarding the full spatial extent of slope failure and the final casualty count.
North Kivu and neighboring provinces contain some of the world’s richest natural deposits of coltan. Coltan contains tantalum, a metal used to manufacture capacitors that regulate electrical current in smartphones, computers, and telecommunications equipment, as well as components for aircraft engines and other aerospace applications due to its resistance to heat, corrosion, and mechanical stress.
In this region, coltan is often found near the surface, enabling extraction with basic tools and rapid sale through informal trading networks.
Landslides and mine collapses are recurrent during the rainy season in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly at artisanal mining sites where terrain disturbance and human exposure are high.
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Teo Blašković
I’m a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.