Congo: Red Cross says 204 dead in oil explosion

[July 03, 2010]  KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- At least 204 people were killed in Congo when a tanker truck transporting oil flipped over and exploded overnight in the east of the country, a Red Cross official said Saturday.

The truck was carrying fuel from neighboring Tanzania when it overturned at high speed late Friday in the village of Sange, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) outside the regional capital, Bukavu, said Red Cross official Desire Yuma.

Speaking by telephone from Bukavu, Yuma said the toll could rise since Red Cross workers were still collecting bodies from the scene.

U.N.-funded Radio Okapi reported a similar death toll, and said some local residents had rushed to steal the leaking fuel when it burst into flames.

Madnodje Mounoubai, a spokesman for the U.N. mission that has peacekeepers in the region, said the U.N. force was investigating the blast. He said no U.N. troops were killed or wounded.

[Associated Press]

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