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Lubumbashi – Fifteen people have suffocated while digging in an illegal mine in south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the problem of illicit mining is widespread, an official said on Saturday.The incident occurred on Friday in Kolwezi in the mineral-rich province of Katanga, where scores of impoverished illegal miners risk their lives in search of minerals including copper and cobalt. “Fifteen artisanal miners died yesterday in a tunnel in Kolwezi,” Mayor Deoda Kapenda told AFP.

“The miners died by suffocation in a tunnel more than 20m deep. It was not a landslide.”

The victims also bore burn marks of unclear origin, he said.

Despite its enormous natural resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo remains one of the world’s least developed countries. – AFP