By Franz Wild
Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Up to 18 diamond miners died in a landslide in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the head of the Union of Artisanal Diamond Miners of Kasai, Jean-Marie Kabuya Mulamba, said.
The workers, who use shovels, picks and their hands to scratch diamonds out of tunnels, were crushed as underground galleries collapsed in a mine in Mbuji Mayi, the capital of Eastern Kasai province, Kabuya Mulamba said today by phone from the region.
“There is no safety in these mines and the diggers have no other choice but to do this,” he said.
Congo’s independent miners, who account for most of the central African nation’s mineral production, have suffered since global metal and diamond prices tumbled last year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Franz Wild in Kinshasa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 20, 2009 04:26 EDT
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