- Title: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Congo train crash kills at least 100
- Date: 5th August 2007
- Summary: GROUP OF PEOPLE ON TRAIN WRECKAGE SITE VARIOUS OF TRAIN WRECKAGE PEOPLE WATCHING PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH DEBRIS WITH CONGO RED CROSS VOLUNTEER IN FOREGROUND
- Embargoed: 20th August 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVA2OU5RFLJCJUDW5IPK23JLT8LB
- Story Text: A train crash in a remote part of Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least 100 people and injured more than 200.
A train crash in a remote part of Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least 100 people and injured more than 200, the central African country's minister of information said on Thursday (August 2).
The accident took place late on Wednesday (August 1) near Benaleka, around 220 km (140 miles) northwest of the town of Kananga in Western Kasai province.
Injured survivors initially walked or were transported by bicycle from the scene of the wreck 12 km (7.5 miles) to the nearest hospital, Congo's U.N.
peacekeeping mission, known by its French acronym MONUC, said.
Of more than 220 hurt, 128 people were seriously injured, it said.
The government was planning to send a delegation including cabinet ministers, medical personnel and additional medical supplies on Friday to help in the aftermath of the disaster, Tshilombo said.
Congo has few paved roads outside the capital Kinshasa, and many Congolese rely on trains as the only affordable way of crossing the central African nation's vast interior.
Derailments are a regular occurrence and fatal accidents are common in Congo, which is still recovering from decades of mismanagement and a 1998-2003 war that killed an estimated 4 million people and left infrastructure in ruins. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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