DR Congo train carrying fuel derails, 33 killed

Up to 33 people were feared dead on Sunday in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a freight train carrying fuel plunged into a ravine.

The UN’s radio Okapi said there had been 33 fatalities with an unknown number of others injured or burned in the accident in the province of Lualaba.

Jean-Marie Tshizainga, the minister of mines of Lualaba province gave a toll of eight dead and several others injured.

“The toll could be significantly higher,” he told AFP.

The train, in which the victims were travelling illegally, was running between the country’s second city of Lubumbashi and Luena.

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. AFP

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