Camara was unloading 1.3-tonne-bags of coal ash when the forklift he was operating hit a pillar and toppled over, crushing him.

He was one of six local workers killed between June 2023 and November 2024 in the construction of a port and a 670-kilometre railway leading to the mines in remote rural Guinea, according to internal reports compiled by company officials that documented more than 40 undisclosed accidents, reviewed by Reuters.

Six company sources provided Reuters with the identities of a further six workers who were killed. None of the fatalities have been reported publicly.

Rio Tinto on October 28, 2024 announced the death of another worker at the port site.

The level of worker fatalities on the mine’s rail and port infrastructure – which is managed by Rio’s Chinese partners, Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) – is unusually high by Western industry standards, according to a dozen experts interviewed by Reuters, including mining executives and lawyers.