SA sends condolences after deadly DRC explosion

Monday, October 8, 2018

The South African Government has conveyed condolences to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after dozens were killed when an oil tanker collided with a bus at the weekend.

According to media reports, over 60 people died and about 100 sustained second-degree burns when the tanker truck caught alight in an accident on Saturday. The accident happened on an arterial highway in the west of the DRC. The highway links capital city Kinshasa to the country's sole seaport at Matadi on the Atlantic Ocean.

“The South African Government extends its condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident and further wishes the injured a speedy recovery,” the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said in statement on Sunday.

Over 200 people died in a similar incident in the country’s South Kivu province in 2010 after a tanker truck overturned and exploded. – SAnews.gov.za