A devastating landslide at an illegal gold mining site in Angola’s Bengo province on Saturday claimed the lives of at least 28 people, according to multiple media reports.

The collapse occurred in the early hours of the morning in the village of Kanakasala, within the Nambuangongo municipality. The location is situated approximately 60 kilometres northeast of the capital, Luanda. 

The deceased are believed to be men aged between 18 and 40. Tragically, 13 members of the same family were among the victims.

Bengo’s Civil Protection and Fire Service rescued four survivors, who were subsequently transported to a local health centre for urgent care. Search and rescue operations are continuing, and officials have cautioned that the death toll may yet increase.

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Rescue efforts and the delivery of reliable information are being complicated by the area’s difficult access and poor communication infrastructure. A cross-departmental team has been deployed to the site to formally assess the full scale and extent of the disaster.

This tragic event is the latest in a series of fatal accidents linked to illicit mining across Angola in recent years. In June 2025 alone, there were two reported incidents: at least six people died over three days in unlicenced mines in Huambo province. A separate collapse buried 13 miners at a clandestine gold and mineral extraction site in Tchikuele, Huíla province. 

Further deadly collapses connected to illegal diamond mining have also been recorded in the provinces of Bié and Lunda-Norte, as well as in the Huambo municipalities of Ukuma and Cuima.