A mine collapse in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed over 200 people, according to a spokesperson of the M23 rebel-appointed governor of the region.
The artisanal mine located in Rubaya, a town in rebel-held North Kivu province collapsed on Wednesday after hours of heavy torrential rain.
Women and children are thought to constitute the majority of the victims who were working at the coltan mine when it gave way.
Coltan is an important element in modern gadgets such as smartphones and laptops and is on high demand from the DR Congo which accounts for roghtly 40 percent of global supply.
However, most of the mines are unregulated and therefore fraught with risks for miners prone to such accidents.
Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, the spokesman of the governor of North Kivu said rescue efforts are being hampered by the flooded conditions of the site from where some 20 survivors were saved and later hospitalised.
They were visited by the M23 appointed Governor Erasto Bahati Musanga who promised to continue the search for bodies possibly trapped under the rubble of the collapsed mine.
The Rubaya mines account for half of the coltan exported from the DR Congo which came under the control of the M23 since the rebels captured North Kivu early last year.
WN/as/APA