At Least 60 Dead in DR Congo Train Accident, Official Says

VOA News | According to the state rail company and local sources, a train crash in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 60 people.

Marc Manyonga Ndambo, director of the infrastructure at the SNCC train operator, told AFP: "(Currently) the toll is 61 dead, men, women, and children (and) 52 injured who have been evacuated."

Fifi Masuka, the provincial governor, was quoted by local media as reporting that 60 people had been slain.

The train was a freight service that had been transporting "several hundred stowaways," despite the fact that this was illegal, according to Manyonga.

He went on to say that "some of the bodies were still trapped in the wagons that had fallen into the ravines."

The train, according to Manyonga, was made up of 15 wagons, 12 of which were empty, and was headed for the mining town of Tenke, which is close to Kolwezi, from Luen in a neighboring province.

It derailed near Buyofwe, approximately 200 kilometers from Kolwezi, at 11:50 p.m. (2150 GMT) on Thursday, he claimed, "at a region where there are ravines," into which seven of the 15 carts plummeted.

Manyonga continued, "My crew is working hard to clear the track before Monday." He didn't specify what caused the crash.

Train derailments, as well as shipwrecks of overloaded boats on the country's lakes and rivers, are prevalent in the DRC.

People utilize cargo trains to travel large distances because there are no passenger trains or passable roads.