At least 50 people are thought to have died when an artisanal gold mine collapsed near Kamituga in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that the cave-in occurred on the “Detroit” mine site on Friday afternoon (local time) following heavy rains, said Emiliano Itongwa, president of the Initiative of Support and Social Supervision of Women.

“Several miners were in the shaft which was covered and no one could get out. We are talking about 50 young people,” she said.

Photos and videos on social media showed hundreds of people, some of whom could be heard wailing on a hillside around the mine-shaft entrance.