At least 32 people were killed on Saturday when a bridge collapsed at a semi-industrial copper mine in southeastern Congo, officials said, marking one of the country’s deadliest mining accidents this year.

According to Congo’s artisanal mining agency, SAEMAPE, the collapse occurred at the Kalando site in Lualaba province, where large numbers of miners operate daily.

An agency official told Reuters that 49 people had died and 20 others were hospitalized in critical condition, though local authorities later reported a lower confirmed death toll.

SAEMAPE said the tragedy unfolded when panic swept through the mining area after gunfire reportedly erupted from military personnel securing the site. Miners attempted to flee across a narrow bridge, causing it to give way.

“Miners piled on top o

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