Six Illegal Diggers Die in Diamond Mine Collapse
May 08, 23
(IDEX Online) - Six "unauthorized diggers" died in a diamond mine collapse in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Few details have emerged about the accident last Friday in Diboko, in the central Kasai province, where mining accidents involving illegal workers are not uncommon.
Those who died had "entered an area where mining is forbidden", the province's vice-governor Gaston Nkole said, according to an AFP report.
Unauthorized diggers usually operate at night, using makeshift tools in hazardous conditions.
In February Pope Francis visited the country and told crowds how the "poison of greed" had smeared its diamonds with blood.