A provisional death toll of last week's goods train accident in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC) indicates that 160 people perished, DRC's transports and communications minister Remy Henri Kuseyo Gatanga has said.
"This is just a provisional death toll. We are yet to get the final report, because there are bodies still strapped under the overturned carriages," the minister affirmed Sunday during a press briefing.
The ill-fated goods trains derailed last Wednesday in Kakenge locality as it rolled down a slope near river Luembe, between Ilebo and Kananga, two towns situated 300 km apart in Western Kasai region.
Gatanga said overloading, speeding and dilapidated railway network were the main causes of the accident.
He also accused some corrupt officials of the Congolese national railway company (SNCC) of allowing people to travel in the goods trains instead of using the passenger one.
"An inquiry has been set up to establish the exact number of victims, and to find out those responsible for the tragic accident, " he said.
SNCC management has already opened an inquiry to determine the causes of the accident. According to a company official, the train derailed as it cruised down a slope along river Luembe, at a very high speed.
He said a majority of the victims were clandestine passengers who habitually travel aboard goods carriages after bribing unscrupulous SNCC officials.
DRC government decreed a three-day national mourning period from Aug. 4 to Aug. 6.
Source: Xinhua
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