20 Aug 2009

Eighteen illegal miners have been killed after a diamond mine collapsed in the central parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, union officials said.

Jean-Marie Kabuya, head of the local Union of Artisanal Diamond Miners of Kasai, said on Thursday that a mine in the Mbuju-Mayi, the capital of Kasai-Oriental Province, had caved in overnight, a Press TV correspondent reported.

"Nine bodies have been recovered and nine more bodies remain inside the mine," Kabuya said, adding that a pit prop collapsed deep underground, presumably hit by the miners in an oversight.

The holding company of the outdate mine closed up in November 2008, when it suffered a hit by the fall in global diamond prices.

Illegal miners lack the most basic of equipment, often relying on shovels and their bare hands to scratch away at the mine wall.

DR Congo has a diverse range of natural wealth such as gold, diamonds, columbite-tantalite and cassiterite.


presstv