|
DRC cops 'open fire' on miners
07/03/2008 08:30 - (SA)
Kinshasa - Police opened fire on hundreds of casual diggers thrown out of a dormant quarry in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, said a United Nations official, citing a protest leader.
"According to the mineworkers' president, the violence resulted in one death and at least 32 injured among the mineworkers," said Leocadio Salmeron, a spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping mission in the area.
Thousands of Congolese scraped a meagre living by picking over disused mine workings for cobalt and copper, but with Chinese firms negotiating new concessions there were fears they could lose their dangerous livelihood.
The pressure group Global Witness estimated that the scavengers survived on less than $3 per day.
Hundreds of traditional diggers were kicked out of a mine at Kamatanda, near the country's southern border with Zambia, on Thursday morning.
Situation in Likasi 'very tense'
An angry mob then set off on a seven-kilometre march to the nearby administrative centre of Likasi, armed with sticks and stones, Salmeron said.
They were particularly angry as the governor of the province, Moise Katumbi, had previously said they would not be ejected immediately, even if the quarry rights were transferred to foreign ownership.
"Scuffles broke out with the police, who then opened fire," said Salmeron, who was still seeking his own confirmation of the toll. The situation in Likasi was said to be "very tense" with a heavy police presence as evening approached.
Salmeron said renewed violence could not be ruled out, as the workers were determined to return to their site.
An international observer said: "There are thousands of mineworkers at Kamatanda. If a compromise is not found, the conflict could become very violent. They have nothing to lose."
The DRC was estimated to hold some 30% of the world's cobalt reserves, and 10% of its copper.
- AFP
|
News
