Benaleka Train Crash
At least 100 people have died following the derailment of a goods train near Benaleka, 140 miles northwest of Kananga, Congo, a further 200 have been injured.
SNCC (Societe Nationale de Chemins de Fer du Congo) cannot rule out further fatalities, lifting operations of overturned wagons is expected to reveal more bodies of passengers travelling illegally on the goods train, a common practice in Congo. The train was travelling between Ilebo and Kananga, this is the 2nd major rail accident in West Kasai in the last 3 weeks.
At least 100 people have died in a train crash in central Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said.
Scores more people have been injured, with some still trapped under carriages that overturned when the train's brakes failed late on Wednesday.
UN helicopters have transported medics to the crash site, 170km (105 miles) west of Kananga in West Kasai province.
Accidents are common on DR Congo's colonial-era rail network which has had little maintenance since 1960.
The Benaleka train crash occurred on August 1, 2007 near Benaleka in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 100 and seriously injuring 128 more.
Tha accident happened in a remote location 105 miles west of Kananga in West Kasai province at 23:00 and involved the derailment of a goods train travelling between Ilebo and Kananga on which hundreds of people were travelling illegally, a common practice in Congo, The crash was caused by the failure of the trains brakes, seven of the train's ten waggons (which people were riding on top of) overturned, trapping many people underneath. The driver was able to detach the locomotive and go for help.; many of the injured were carried by bicycle or on people's back to the nearest hospital, six miles away according to Radio Okapi.
