32 dead, 90 injured in Congo train accident

Thirty-three people died, while around 90 others were reportedly injured in a train accident in Kasai province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, local media reported on Monday.

According to reports, the freight train carrying stowaways, mostly children, got derailed in Bena Leka settlement, 140 kilometers north of Kananga in Kasai.

A railway police official in Bena Leka informed that several wagons of the freight train fell into the water at the bridge over the Luembe river while five more wagons remained overturned.

People with severe injuries were shifted to the hospital in nearby Kakenge settlement, Al Jazeera reported.

The derailment was confirmed by the national rail company of Congo. Authorities said that the toll in the train accident may rise, whereas, the real cause of the accident is yet to be disclosed.

Further details are awaited.

It is the third train accident in about a month in Congo. Five people were reportedly killed in a passenger train accident at Kalenda station last month.