At least 7 dead in a train derailment in DR Congo

At least seven people were killed on Saturday night in a new freight train derailment in the Lualaba province, in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

A new train accident has claimed the life of at least 7 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The provisional toll counts "7 dead and 14 seriously injured", Deoda Kapenda, provincial minister of the Interior, told AFP. Adding, "a team is on its way to the accident site. The death toll could rise as many stowaways are trapped under the lying wagons".

According to a local official of the National Railway Company of Congo (SNCC), the freight train was made up of eight wagons. It was leaving Tenke in Lualaba province for Kananga in the Kasai region. The accident took place in the village of Buyofwe, located about 200 km from Kolwezi, capital of Lualaba province.

The derailment comes two weeks after a train crash in the same village in mid-March that left at least 75 people dead and 125 injured, according to the government in Kinshasa.

Train derailments are not uncommon in the DRC, because of the lack of passenger trains or passable roads, passengers often use freight trains to travel long distances.