100 killed Congo accident

KINSHASA – The government rushed a planeload of medical aid to survivors of a train wreck that killed about 100 people in southern Congo, officials said on Friday.

Deputy Health Minister Ferdinand Ntua said several senior government officials were also aboard the plane that took off from Kinshasa to assess the damage and help bury the dead at the scene of the accident, about 170 kilometres northwest of Kananga, capital of Kasai Occidental province. Officials say seven cars flipped off the rails just before midnight Wednesday and the train’s locomotive stopped responding to controls as it travelled between the cities of Ilebo and Kananga, leaving the conductor unable to brake.Medard Ilunga, head of Congo’s state railway agency, said 102 people were known to have been injured in the wreck.Nampa-APOfficials say seven cars flipped off the rails just before midnight Wednesday and the train’s locomotive stopped responding to controls as it travelled between the cities of Ilebo and Kananga, leaving the conductor unable to brake.Medard Ilunga, head of Congo’s state railway agency, said 102 people were known to have been injured in the wreck.Nampa-AP