20100622
africanews

At least 50 people have been killed in a train crash which occurred on Monday night about 60km (37 miles) from the city of Pointe-Noire in southern Congo-Brazzaville, officials have said.

It is believed that the train derailed as it went round a corner in a remote area between Bilinga and Tchitondi, throwing four carriages into a ravine.

The dead and wounded have been taken to hospitals and morgues in Pointe-Noire.

A special adviser to the ministry of transport, Alphonse Pepa, confirmed there had been a "serious train accident, but we do not yet have an assessment".

An official, who did not want to be named, told BBC Afrique that 51 people had been killed.

The whole line between the capital Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire was closed down in the late 1990s during the country's civil war. There have been at least two serious accidents since it re-opened.

This is the second accident in the country in recent days. A plane carrying mostly Australian mining executives crashed over the weekend, killing all 11 passengers on board.