Since the beginning of 2026, at least four landslides are reported to have killed hundreds of people at the Rubaya mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a major global source of coltan. Coltan is widely used in smartphones, laptops and e-vehicles.

With the mines currently under the control of the Rwandan-backed group M23, and access restricted to journalists and many NGOs, the true number of casualties remains unclear. Frequent cellular network disruptions have also been reported across the region.

In the absence of reliable on-the-ground coverage, Bellingcat used open source methods to examine statements from the authorities and media reports. Bellingcat confirmed several incidents in which villages were engulfed in the landslide and residents living near the mine were among those killed.

Landslide No.1 – January 28

Reports of a deadly landslide killing more than 200 people began appearing in international media in late January and early February. 

Three days after the incident, the DRC government made a statement on Facebook outlining that at least 200 people had been killed. They said the landslide was “a consequence of the rampant and illegal mining by Rwanda and the M23/AFC”.

In response, the M23-appointed local governor, Lumumba Muyisa, told Reuters that at least 200 people had been killed, but attributed the landslide to heavy rains. 

Landslides are common in small-scale mines, especially during the rainy season, which in Rubaya spans from September to May and peaks between March and April. 

Bellingcat cross-checked local media reports against one of the few social media posts about the incident, geolocating the phone footage to a mining pit south-east of Rubaya. In the video, the narrator speaking in Kinyarwanda (the national language of Rwanda, also spoken in eastern DRC) pans from the top to the bottom of the slope. Filmed at a distance, no bodies are visible in the footage.

Satellite imagery captured before and after the first landslide shows how the mud advanced down the slope.

Landslide No.2 – March 3

Just over a month later, a second landslide was reported. On Facebook, the DR Congo Ministry of Mines released a statement including a provisional death toll of more than 200 people:

However, senior M23 official Fanny Kaj, speaking to AP, rejected the DRC government’s claims, stating: 

“I can confirm what people are publishing is not true. There was no landslide; there were bombings, and the death toll isn’t what people are saying. It’s simply about five people who died,” Kaj said. 

The same day the second landslide was reported, another M23 spokesperson, Lawrence Kanyuka, announced an attack involving “combat drones and heavy artillery”, at a location more than 250km from Rubaya.

Speaking to eyewitnesses at the mines, international media reported a landslide triggered by heavy rains, with no mention of bombings – only of workers buried under the earth. 

Bellingcat verified several social media videos of the second incident, in which dozens of people are seen digging for those buried under the mud. The clip below is an edited excerpt that excludes graphic images of bodies.

Edited video clip (left) geolocated to the camera icon (right). The white line (right) shows the camera’s movement as it pans across the slope. Source: Planet Labs PBC, March 26, 2026.

Later in the video, as the camera zooms in on several bodies, the narrator speaking in Kinyarwanda says: “Those you can see here have just been pulled out. These people are dead, but others are continuing to the search operations.” 

Due to the low quality of the footage, an accurate body count was not possible. 

Bellingcat geolocated footage of landslide No. 2 to the same location as landslide No. 1, shown in the satellite imagery below.

M23 did not respond to a request for comment on findings contradicting senior official Fanny Kaj’s claim that no landslide occurred on 3 March.

Landslide No.3 – March 7

Four days later, a third landslide was reported, with estimates of more than 300 people killed, according to civil society official Telesphore Nitendike. Speaking to EFE, Nitendike said the landslide had affected “more than 40 families” as houses were “swept away” by the mud.

Satellite imagery shows the landslide advancing from east to west as mud surged down the slope.

Before and after the third landslide on March, 3. Source: Planet Labs PBC.

Bellingcat verified more than a dozen social media videos from the third incident, the majority posted on X by local media accounts. Almost all contained highly distressing content, including the bodies of young children. In one video, the narrator walks through a crowd of more than a hundred people, then stops and pans across several bodies covered with blankets, saying: 

“These bodies were found here in Gatabi [name of village], inside houses. You can see how the houses were swallowed. The search for residents is still ongoing. It is truly a tragedy.”

As he continues filming, at least seven unclothed bodies, all young children, are seen being carried down the slope.

“You see, there, that’s another child’s body. These are children who were sleeping in their homes. Some were still in bed when they were swallowed by the landslide.”

Left: Video clip shows a body covered with a blanket on a stretcher. Right: Video clip shows the community-led rescue effort. The background satellite image shows geolocated pins marking the videos. Source: Planet Labs PBC, 16 February 2026.

Bellingcat geolocated 12 social media videos of the third landslide to a location southwest of Rubaya town.

Landslide No.4 – March 27

A fourth landslide was reported at the end of March by local outlets, describing the collapse of two mining shafts and the death of at least nine workers. 

Satellite analysis, combined with the geolocation of one social media video, indicates the fourth incident took place at the same location as landslides No.1 and No.2.

Before and after the fourth landslide on March 27. Yellow box highlights houses engulfed in the mud. Source: Planet Labs PBC.

Despite repeated attempts by Bellingcat to contact the DRC government and M23 for updated casualty figures across all four incidents, neither party responded. 

In February of this year, human rights group Global Witness called on companies and governments using or trading DRC’s coltan to ensure mine operators adhere to international human rights and environmental standards.

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Bellingcat also contacted the DRC government spokesman and minister for communication and media, Patrick Muyaya, regarding a post he made on X that Bellingcat found to be promoting misinformation about the rate of expansion of the mines while under M23 control.

In the post, Muyaya urges followers to watch a video that presents itself as an open source report but includes satellite imagery falsely attributed to Bellingcat and “Planet Labs Inc.” We can confirm that this is not our work. The imagery also appears not to be from Planet Labs PBC, but from Google Earth Pro (illustrated below). 

The fabricated video was originally posted in 2025 by the Facebook account, Congo Kinshasa.

Contacted by Bellingcat, Congo Kinshasa confirmed that they were the creator of the video. Asked to explain why the satellite images were mislabeled and the analysis wrongly attributed to Bellingcat, they responded: “I don’t understand you. What exactly is your problem?”

Minister Patrick Muyaya did not respond to our request for comment on his post promoting false information.

Claire Press contributed to this report.

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