Police in the province of South Kivu on Tuesday said up to 500 miners are believed to be trapped in eastern Congo following a series of landslides.

A police spokesman said ten bodies have been recovered since the collapse in a remote area on Sunday. He said volunteers are working to recover the remaining bodies and survivors.

According to him, information on the exact number of casualties is difficult to verify, as the affected miners did not work for a company but worked in the informal mining sector in the resource-rich area.

Numerous internally displaced people who had fled the ongoing fighting between government troops and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in eastern Congo were also said to be among those buried.

The hilly area was recently hit by heavy rains.

The police spokesman said landslides were also reported in villages in the region.

However, there has been no report of casualties so far.

(dpa/NAN)