Five days after the disaster that struck the Rubaya mining site in North Kivu province, the Democratic Republic of Congo is still awaiting a final death toll. Between geographical chaos and digital isolation, the exact number of victims remains a subject of disagreement between official and local sources.

The human toll is still unclear.

The scale of the tragedy is difficult to quantify. While local authorities are reporting at least 200 deaths , civil society in the Masisi territory is much more pessimistic, estimating that the actual toll is closer to 400 missing .

“Several hundred bodies are still buried under tons of mud. Establishing a comprehensive list of victims will take a very long time,” says a civil society official.

An area cut off from the world

Access to information is hampered by several critical factors:

1. Geography: The site is located 70 km from Goma in a steep mountainous area.
2. Telecommunications: The telephone network has been out of service for several days.
3. Logistics: News only filters through via motorcyclists braving the region's tracks.

The circumstances of the tragedy

The disaster unfolded in two stages at the Luwowo mining site:

1. Wednesday, January 28: A section of hillside collapses following torrential rains.
2. Thursday morning: A second landslide worsens the situation.

A precarious security and social context

The Rubaya site illustrates the paradox of artisanal mining in the DRC. Despite the official ban on all activity decreed by Kinshasa a year ago (status "red"), thousands of miners continue to work there daily to survive.

These "diggers" operate in non-existent security conditions, under the control of the armed group AFC-M23 , making this area a permanent hotbed of danger, both geological and security-related.