8 killed in fuel tank explosion in Congo

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - At least eight people were killed and 18 injured when a fuel tanker exploded on a road in the Congo, authorities said Thursday.

The accident occurred Wednesday in Kongo-Central province in Madimba territory, 120 kilometers (74 miles) west of the nation’s capital of Kinshasa, after the fuel tank overturned, according to Alphonsine Ngombo, the territory’s deputy administrator.

“After the vehicle overturned, petrol started flowing out and residents rushed to the scene to scoop it. The truck exploded at around 10 p.m. local time,” Ngombo told Anadolu Agency.

“Preliminary findings showed that eight people died while 18 others were injured, 10 of them seriously. The dead were burnt beyond recognition.”

Noting that authorities warned residents against getting close to the scene, Ngombo said the injured were rushed to St. Luke's Hospital in Kisantu.

The governor of Kongo-Central province, Guy Bandu, deplored the accident.

“This area should not be a cemetery. It is time to take stringent and courageous measures to strengthen the regulation of transportation, especially of flammable products to end this cycle of disasters,” he wrote on Twitter.

In 2018, a similar explosion killed nearly 40 people in the same locality.​​​​​​​