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CONGO-MINING-ACCIDENT
13 people, mainly stowaways, killed in Congo train crash
BRAZZAVILLE, July 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Thirteen people, mainly stowaways,
were killed when two trains collided overnight in Republic of Congo, the
Congo-Ocean Railway (CFCO) company and police said Monday.
Several others were injured in the crash between a train transporting
freight and another with a mineral load, a CFCO agent told AFP on condition
of anonymity.
“A train transporting minerals experienced a technical failure and crashed
with a freight train,” said the source.
The crash happened near the port city of Pointe-Noire.
Police confirmed the toll, and said most of the victims were stowaway
riders.
The mineral train belonged to the Sapro mining company, and had departed
from Mayoko, some 300 kilometres (186 miles) northeast of Pointe-Noire, where
Sapro excavates iron ore.
Constructed when Congo was a French colony, the CFCO train line from
Pointe-Noire in the southwest to Brazzaville in the southeast, near the
border with much larger neighbour DR Congo, is a key economic artery.
Traffic along the line was interrupted for two years from 2016 to 2018 due
to clashes between the army and the rebel “Ninja” militia loyal to a former
prime minister.
The last accident on the CFCO line, in June 2010, killed 53 people.
BSS/AFP/RY/1752 hrs