"The spectre of Shinkolobwe continues to haunt the DRC. Drawn by rich deposits of copper and cobalt, Congolese miners began digging informally at the site, working around the sealed mineshafts. By the end of the century, an estimated 15,000 miners and their families were present, operating clandestine pits with no protection against the radioactive ore."
"Stories abound of children born in the area with physical deformations, but few if any medical records are kept."
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200803-the-forgotten-mine-that-built-the-atomic-bomb