Thirteen people mainly stowaways, were killed when two trains collided overnight in the 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.
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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.
AFP