A landslide at a mine has killed at least 130 workers as flash floods caused by heavy rain batter Congo.

Footage shows earth collapsing down hills as the workers fled at the Songambele coltan mining concession near the city of Rubaya, part of Masisi Territory in North Kivu province on May 8.

Officials said at least 130 people - many of them impoverished miners who dig by hand - were buried under debris.

The landslide came amid flash floods that have killed at least 400 people across the country and left more than 3,000 families without homes. It is one of the country's worst natural disasters.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo - formerly known as Zaire - is a mineral-rich country in central Africa that provides much of the metals needed in electronics. Coltan has a unique ability to hold and move electrical signals.

However, despite providing copper, cobalt, coltan, gold and many other metals, Congo remains devastatingly poor with many of its mining concessions being monopolized by rogue state China and royalties disappearing among a handful of corrupt officials.