33 people were feared dead on Sunday in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a freight train carrying fuel plunged into a ravine.
33 fatalities with an unknown number of others injured or burned in the accident in the province of Lualaba had been recorded, the UN’s radio Okapi said.
The minister of mines of Lualaba province, Jean-Marie Tshizainga said that the death toll was at 8 with several others injured.
The train, in which the victims were travelling illegally, was running between the country’s second city of Lubumbashi and Luena, AFP reports.
The train was transporting 13 oil tankers and derailed while climbing a slope near the station of Lubudi. It fell into a ravine and the tankers caught fire, radio Okapi said.
A senior official from the national railway company, Sylvestre Ilunga Ilukamba said that the freight train was not supposed to be carrying passengers and if there were people on board, they are consider to be illegal travellers.
In 2014, a freight train derailed killing 74 people and injured 163, according to officials but the Red Cross said up to 200 corpses had been buried.
Source: CGTN Africa
