MONUSCO rescues victims of railway accident in Katanga

26 avr 2014

MONUSCO rescues victims of railway accident in Katanga

5mcMl.jpg

Kinshasa - 25 April 2014. United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo reports a train of the Congolese Railway Network known as SNCC derailed on 22 April 2014, near Katongola bridge, about fifty kilometers away from Kamina, the administrative capital of Haut-Lomami district (600 km north west of Lubumbashi), Katanga province.

Several cases of death and injured were reported, but the exact number of casualty is yet unknown. With civilians and goods on board, the train came from Kamina and was heading for Mwene Ditu in Eastern Kasai province. SNCC confirmed train derailment, indicating that its team would be deployed from Kamina to the scene of the accident to investigate into the circumstances of the derailment. In response to the tragedy, earlier, urgent interventions by MONUSCO were as well undertaken: Battalion from Benin (BENBATT-8 Kamina), immediately after they were alerted, they travelled to the scene of the accident the same day to provide the first emergency aids to the injured.

MONUSCO Police team also rushed to health clinics, intelligence office, SNCC office and RCK (Community Radio in Kamina). MONUSCO Police reported tentative number of casualties estimated at 32 deaths and roughly 55 injured 37 of whom undergoing treatment at the General Reference Hospital in Kamina; others were transported to other private clinics. However, civil society organizations in Kamina presented a different report of the number of casualties; say 200 deaths and several missing persons cornered under the wagons’ debris. Excess of speed limit is reported to be the cause of the accident

Yesterday, Martin Kobler, the head of MONUSCO, presented its most heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the tragic accident. He offered MONUSCO’s support to the authorities within the framework of the rescue operations. “I instructed our services to provide all necessary assistance to provincial authorities and the population,” declared the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in DRC.