The spill happened on Feb. 18 when a tailings dam that holds acidic waste from a copper mine in the north of the country collapsed, according to investigators from the Engineering Institution of Zambia.
This image taken from video Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, shows a breach at a tailing dam at a Sino-Metals Leach Zambia mine near Kitwe.
“It is an environmental disaster really of catastrophic consequences,” said Chilekwa Mumba, an environmental activist who works in Zambia’s Copperbelt Province.
This image taken from video Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, shows the path of mine waste in a river near a Sino-Metals Leach Zambia mine near Kitwe.
(AP Photo/Richard Kille ) This image taken from video Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, shows the path of mine waste in a river near a Sino-Metals Leach Zambia mine near Kitwe.
(AP Photo/Richard Kille ) This image taken from video Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, shows the entrance to the Sino-Metals Leach Zambia mine complex near Kitwe.
(AP Photo/Richard Kille ) This image taken from video Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, shows dead fish in the Kafue River near the town of Luanshya, Zambia. »