Reports indicate at least 32 people were killed on Saturday, November 15, 2025, after a makeshift bridge collapsed at the Kalando mine in Mulondo, located in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lualaba province. The structure, built by miners to cross a flooded trench at the copper and cobalt extraction site, gave way under the weight of overcrowding during a chaotic scene that unfolded amid panic and gunfire.
Roy Kaumba Mayonde, the province’s interior minister, confirmed the incident during a press conference, explaining that illegal miners had forced their way into the quarry despite explicit warnings. “Despite a formal ban on access to the site because of the heavy rain and the risk of a landslide, wildcat miners forced their way into the quarry,” Mayonde said. The site had been temporarily closed due to dangerous conditions created by heavy rainfall and significant landslide risks.
According to a report from SAEMAPE, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Support and Guidance Service, soldiers stationed at the mine fired gunshots in an apparent effort to enforce the access ban. The gunfire sparked widespread panic among the estimated 10,000 wildcat miners present at Kalando, causing them to rush toward the makeshift bridge in an attempt to flee the area. The sudden surge of people overwhelmed the unstable structure, which collapsed and sent miners tumbling into the flooded trench below, where they were left piled on top of each other.
The exact death toll remains subject to variation in official reports, with SAEMAPE’s account estimating at least 40 fatalities compared to Mayonde’s figure of 32. Among the injured, two miners sustained gunshot wounds—one shot in the thigh and another in the hand. The conflicting casualty numbers reflect the challenges of conducting accurate assessments in the immediate aftermath of such incidents at unregulated mining sites.
Provincial authorities moved quickly to suspend mining operations at the site on Sunday, November 16, the day after the collapse. Arthur Kabulo, provincial coordinator for the National Human Rights Commission, noted that more than 10,000 wildcat miners regularly operate at Kalando. The Initiative for Protection of Human Rights has called for an independent military investigation into the soldiers’ role in the deaths, citing reports of clashes between miners and military personnel at the site.
The Kalando mine has been at the center of a longstanding dispute over control and access rights. The conflict involves wildcat miners who extract minerals without formal authorization, a cooperative established to organize digging operations, and the site’s legal operators, who reportedly have Chinese involvement. This type of tension is common throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mining sector, where the line between legal and illegal extraction remains frequently contested.
The Democratic Republic of Congo holds a dominant position as the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a critical mineral used in manufacturing lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones, and numerous other electronic devices. Chinese companies control approximately 80 percent of the cobalt production in the central African nation, reflecting the significant international economic interests at stake in the region’s mineral wealth.
Artisanal mining, while providing income for an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people across the Democratic Republic of Congo, operates largely outside formal regulatory frameworks. These wildcat miners work in conditions that lack basic safety infrastructure and oversight, contributing to recurring accidents and fatalities. The makeshift nature of equipment and structures, such as the bridge that collapsed at Kalando, exemplifies the dangerous improvisation that characterizes much of the artisanal mining sector.
The cobalt mining industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo has faced persistent accusations related to child labor, unsafe working conditions, and widespread corruption. These systemic issues reflect broader challenges in a country where mineral wealth has not translated into widespread prosperity or improved safety standards for those working to extract valuable resources. International demand for cobalt, driven particularly by the global transition to electric vehicles, continues to fuel both legal and illegal mining operations despite the human cost.
The November 15 collapse represents another chapter in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s troubled mining history, where the pursuit of valuable minerals frequently occurs in environments lacking adequate safety measures or regulatory enforcement. The incident highlights the tensions between economic necessity for local populations, corporate interests in mineral extraction, and government efforts to maintain control over valuable resource sites. As electric vehicle production expands globally and cobalt demand increases, the pressure on mining operations in southeastern DRC continues to intensify, often at the expense of worker safety and regulatory compliance.
The military’s presence at the Kalando mine, intended to enforce the temporary closure due to weather-related hazards, ultimately contributed to the circumstances that led to the bridge collapse. Whether the use of gunfire was justified as an enforcement measure or constituted excessive force remains a subject of investigation. The call for an independent inquiry reflects concerns about accountability and the appropriate use of military resources at contested mining sites throughout the region.
