DRC-Zambia border truck inferno kills two Zimbabweans

Four people who include two Zimbabweans, a Zambian, and a Tanzanian were killed and 10 others injured in a huge fire that occurred Monday night on the border between the DRC and Zambia.

Reports say the tragedy occurred at customs parking in the Congolese border town of Kasumbalesa about 90 kilometres south of Lubumbashi, Congo’s second largest city and capital of the mining province of Katanga.

The deputy governor of the province, Guibert Paul Yav Tshibal said two people died and 12 others were injured and 48 vehicles were burnt.

According to hospital sources, two of the wounded, who had been admitted in a desperate state in Lubumbashi, died later after the announcement of the deputy governor.

The inferno was caused by a collision between two trucks, which led to a leak from the tank of one of the two filled with gasoline vehicles.

The fuel then caught fire due to contact with wood stoves used by other drivers in a nearby kitchen.

Officials at the border post said the insurance of parking lot will compensate the damage amounting to several millions of dollars as more than hundreds of trucks were affected. Times of Zambia