5^th-11^th July 2010

By Our Staff Writer

DRC Fuel Tanker Victims

The BBC has reported that bodies of scores of people killed in a fuel truck explosion in the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC] have been buried in mass graves.  At least 230 people were killed when the overturned oil tanker exploded and sparked a fire in Sange village.  Some of those who died were trying to collect leaking fuel but others were trapped inside buildings, including a cinema, by the blaze.   UN peacekeepers, aid workers and troops have been helping the injured.  The truck overturned in the village of Sange as it tried to overtake a minibus.

Red Cross teams carried bodies wrapped in plastic sheeting to two mass graves outside the village; the BBC reported, quoting Associated Press reports.  Jean-Claude Kibala, South Kivu’s vice-governor, said scenes in the village were “terrible….there are lots of dead bodies on the streets. The population is in terrible shock – no-one is crying or speaking”; he said.

The accident happened late on Friday in Sange, about 70km [40 miles] south of Bukavu in South Kivu near the border with Burundi.  The truck, travelling from Tanzania, overturned and began leaking fuel.  “Petrol began to leak out but instead of fleeing people came to collect the fuel,” Tondo Sahizira, 28, is reported to have told AFP news agency.  “A few minutes later there was an explosion, flames burst from the truck and spread very quickly”.

Bedide Mwasha said that five Pakistani peacekeepers had urged people to leave the area “but people refused to leave….men, women and children, even [government] soldiers were stealing petrol”; the 45-year-old Sange resident said.  Several homes with thatched roofs were engulfed in flames, as was a cinema where a crowd had gathered to watch the World Cup.  “My children were watching the football match in the cinema and then they ran out to see the petrol,” Kiza Ruvinira is reported to have told Reuters news agency.  He added that “I went out to see what happened and I found my three children’s bodies myself. I don’t know how to go on”.

The UN’s acting special representative to Congo, Leila Zerrougui, said the UN would “do everything possible to help authorities and assist victims”.

Excerpts sourced from:  www.bbc.co.uk