At least 60 killed in DRC train collision

Even passenger trains are crowded but as there are so few, many people jump on good trains crossing the country. AFP/ISSOUF SANOGO

A train crash in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has killed at least 60 people, the state rail company said on March 12.

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

Local media quoted the provincial governor Fifi Masuka as saying 60 people had been killed.

The train was a freight service which had been carrying "several hundred stowaways", said Manyonga even though this was prohibited.

Manyonga said the train was made up of 15 wagons, 12 of which were empty, and was coming from Luen in a neighbouring province destined for the mining town of Tenke, close to Kolwezi.

It derailed at 11:50pm (2150 GMT) on March 10 at the village of Buyofwe, about 200km from Kolwezi, "at a place where there are ravines", into which seven of the 15 wagons fell, he said.

"My team is working hard to clear the track by Monday [March 14]," Manyonga added. He did not say how the crash had happened.

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