At 00:10 on October 25, six inspectors of SHANDONG SPECIAL EQUIPMENT INSPECTION INSTITUTE GROUP CO., LTD. (SDSEI) took flight ET605 of Ethiopian Airlines at Beijing Capital International Airport. After nearly 20 hours of flight, they arrived at Lubumbashi International Airport at about 18:30 (Beijing time), and then took a bus to Sicomines Sarl Office in Lubumbashi.

      As the time of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) is 6 hours later than that of Beijing, and it takes 5-6 hours to drive to Sicomines Sarl mining area, considering the safety problem of driving at night, Sicomines Sarl staff arranged the six inspectors to have a rest in the office for one night and then went to the mining area the next day.

      Due to the time difference, the SDSEI inspectors woke up at 4 a.m., local time. After washing, they had breakfast at 7 a.m. and then drove to the mining area. They arrived at the mining area at 13:10 and the inspectors stayed in the workers' dormitory of Sicomines Sarl.

Security personnel on the way to the mining area

      Military equipment and burning cars encountered on the way to the mining area

      At 2 p.m., six SDSEI inspectors came to the production plant of Sicomines Sarl. They went to the plant with Director Zhang, facility supervisor of Sicomines Sarl, to check the situation of the equipment. Director Zhang introduced the basic situation of equipment management of Sicomines Sarl. The two sides agreed on the inspection plan and personnel arrangement according to the use of equipment and production plan.    According to the agreed plan, the inspection technical services for pressure vessels, boilers, lifting machinery, motor vehicles, and safety valves in the plant will be started on October 27. Later, Director Zhang led the inspectors to the office of Manager Hou, who was in charge of the equipment. The inspectors had simple communication with Manager Hou, had a detailed understanding of the management system and personnel allocation of Sicomines Sarl for equipment management, and made a detailed deployment of personnel for the inspection work carried out on October 27, so as to ensure the smooth progress of the on-site inspection work.

Photos of on-site works

Local life in DR Congo