50 dead, 100 burnt, as oil tanker bursts into flames after collision in DR Congo

Authorities in the DR Congo estimate that at least 50 people have been killed with a further 100 receiving second degree burns, after an oil tanker collided with another vehicle before bursting into flames, AFP reports. The incident took place near the city of Kisantu, along a main highway which links the capital Kinshasa to the country’s sole port at Matadi on the Atlantic Ocean. Many of the injuries occurred as flames from the crash “spread rapidly engulfing nearby houses,” the UN’s Okapi radio said. Oil tankers and trucks overloaded with goods are a regular scene on the highway.