The Rubaya mine collapses
More than 600 miners die digging the ore that goes into every phone.
- When
- Known to
- ± 12 hours
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
- Where
- Rubaya, Democratic Republic of the Congo · 1.5000° S, 28.9000° E
Successive collapses at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Congo on 28 January 2026 killed over 600 workers, most digging by hand in pits under militia control. Rubaya supplies a large share of the world's tantalum. It was among the deadliest mining disasters in history and drew brief attention to a supply chain that runs from hand-dug pits to consumer electronics.