At least 10 people were killed and four others injured in a head-on collision between the two trains on Saturday in the southwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), according to the Commercial Society of Transport and Ports (SCTP).

The two trains coming respectively from the capital Kinshasa and from Matadi, the capital of Bas-Congo province collided at the section of Songololo, not far from Matadi.

The cause of the accident remains unknown, while massive damage was reported by the SCTP.

Built from 1890 to 1898 between the port of Matadi and Kinshasa, the 365-km railway line has become dilapidated.

Railway accidents are frequently reported in the vast Central African country because of the ageing of locomotives and railway networks left over from the colonial times. There has been rarely maintenance work ever since the country won independence in 1960.