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A file photo of the scene of a tanker explosion
At least seven people were killed and 16 others badly burned when a tanker truck exploded in a village in western Democratic Republic of Congo, a provincial chief said Thursday.
The blast occurred overnight in the village of Mbuba, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of the capital Kinshasa, Kongo Central provincial governor Guy Bandu tweeted.
Mbuba lies on the busy RN1 highway linking Kinshasa to the ports of Matadi and Boma.
More than 50 people were killed in a fuel-tanker blast in the same village in October 2018.
“It is high time to take bold and drastic measures to strengthen transport regulations, especially for flammable products, to end to this cycle of accidents,” the provincial governor tweeted.
Later in the day, Bandu gave the toll of seven dead and 16 badly burned in the latest blast, stressing that the figures were provisional.
Mabiala Khonde, a civil-society representative in the area who passed the scene of the accident, said the truck had toppled over and was leaking fuel.
“People were running to collect the fuel,” he told AFP by telephone from Matadi. “Several minutes after we heard an explosion”. (AFP via Channels)
