Since the start of 2026, a remote mining region in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has become the focus of mounting international concern after at least four reported landslides struck the Rubaya coltan mines, a key global source of the mineral used in smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles. The incidents are believed to have killed hundreds of people, though the absence of independent access has made verification extremely difficult. The mines are currently under the control of the Rwanda-backed armed group M23, formally known as M23, which has restricted journalist and NGO access to the area.
An estimated 10,000 to 11,000 miners work in Rubaya under precarious conditions, often earning only a few dollars a day. The region’s steep terrain, combined with seasonal rainfall, makes landslides a recurring hazard, particularly during the long rainy season from September to May. However, the scale and frequency of the 2026 incidents, alongside conflicting official accounts and limited communications infrastructure, have raised urgent questions about both safety and accountability.
In the absence of reliable ground reporting, investigative researchers at Bellingcat relied on open-source intelligence methods to reconstruct what happened. Analysts cross-checked fragmented social media posts, satellite imagery, eyewitness videos, and official statements to verify incidents and assess damage. Their findings confirmed multiple cases in which entire village sections adjacent to mining pits were engulfed by landslides, with residents and miners among the dead. Frequent cellular outages in the region further complicated the flow of information, often delaying reports of casualties by days.
The first major incident was reported on January 28, when international media began describing a catastrophic landslide that may have killed more than 200 people. Three days later, the DRC government issued a Facebook statement confirming at least 200 deaths, blaming what it called “rampant and illegal mining by Rwanda and the M23/AFC.” In contrast, an M23-appointed local governor attributed the disaster to heavy rainfall, without acknowledging the higher casualty estimates. Landslides are not uncommon in Rubaya, but the scale of destruction suggested a major structural collapse of mining terrain rather than a localized accident.
Bellingcat analysts geolocated limited phone footage of the incident to a mining pit southeast of Rubaya, using visible terrain features and building clusters matched against satellite imagery from Google Earth Pro and Planet Labs. The video, recorded in Kinyarwanda, shows a slope covered in mud flowing downward, though no bodies are visible due to distance and resolution. Satellite comparisons taken before and after the event revealed a clear advancement of debris across the hillside, confirming the physical footprint of the landslide despite uncertainty over the final death toll.
A second landslide was reported on March 3, intensifying confusion as officials issued sharply contradictory accounts. The DRC Ministry of Mines again cited a provisional death toll exceeding 200, while senior M23 official Fanny Kaj dismissed the reports entirely, claiming there had been no landslide and only a small number of deaths resulting from bombings. Another M23 spokesperson referenced unrelated drone and artillery attacks occurring more than 250 kilometers away, further muddying the narrative. Meanwhile, international media interviews with eyewitnesses described miners buried under collapsing earth, with rescue efforts hindered by unstable terrain and lack of equipment.
Open-source investigators verified multiple videos from the second incident showing dozens of people digging through mud in search of survivors. In some footage, bodies are pulled from debris while rescuers continue to search nearby. One narrator, speaking in Kinyarwanda, can be heard describing ongoing recovery efforts and confirming fatalities. Bellingcat geolocated this footage to the same mining site affected in January, indicating repeated instability at the same location. M23 did not respond to requests for clarification regarding claims that no landslide had occurred.
Just days later, on March 7, a third and more devastating landslide was reported, with civil society estimates suggesting more than 300 people may have died. Local officials said entire households were swept away, with over 40 families affected. Satellite imagery showed a large mass of mud moving from east to west across the mining slope, reinforcing reports of widespread destruction.
Video evidence verified by Bellingcat from the third incident included distressing scenes of rescue operations and bodies being recovered from collapsed structures. In one account, a narrator described houses being “swallowed” while search efforts continued for missing residents. Multiple children were reported among the dead, with some victims found inside homes or in beds. Analysts geolocated over a dozen videos to areas southwest of Rubaya, confirming the spatial consistency of repeated collapses in the same broader mining zone.
A fourth landslide was reported on March 27, involving the collapse of mining shafts and killing at least nine workers, according to local media. Satellite analysis combined with video geolocation indicated that this incident also occurred in the same cluster of sites affected by earlier disasters. Imagery showed further encroachment of mud into residential and working areas, suggesting ongoing instability of the terrain under intense mining pressure.
Despite repeated inquiries, neither the DRC government nor M23 provided updated or consolidated casualty figures for any of the four incidents. The lack of official transparency has contributed to an information vacuum, where competing narratives circulate without independent verification. In February, human rights organization Global Witness warned that companies sourcing coltan from the DRC must ensure compliance with international human rights and environmental standards, highlighting risks embedded in global supply chains tied to the region.
The situation has also been complicated by misinformation. Investigators found that a video circulating online, promoted by a government official, falsely claimed to show Bellingcat analysis and satellite imagery from Planet Labs Inc. In reality, the imagery appeared to originate from Google Earth Pro and was misattributed. The video was later traced to a Facebook account that confirmed authorship but failed to explain the false labeling.
As Rubaya’s mines continue to operate under armed control and environmental strain, the convergence of deadly natural disasters, fragmented governance, and contested information has left a region critical to the global tech industry shrouded in uncertainty. What remains clear from the available evidence is that repeated landslides have reshaped both the landscape and the lives of thousands of miners, while the true scale of the human toll is still unfolding in the absence of independent access and reliable reporting.
