Dikanga Kazadi, the interior minister of the province, said on Wednesday the accident took place near the town of Likasi where the passenger train sped off the rails due to its high speed.

Dikanga Kazadi, the interior minister of the province, said on Wednesday the accident took place near the town of Likasi where the passenger train sped off the rails due to its high speed.

"Evidently the train was going too fast, the driver came to a curve and had to break suddenly leading to the accident," Kazadi said.

"There were two train engines and two carriages overturned," he added.

A team has now been sent to investigate the crash that also left 80 people wounded.

The country suffers from poor infrastructure and fatal transportation accidents are a frequent occurrence there.

In 2007, more than 100 people were killed in a similar accident in the African country.