20100703
reuters

KINSHASA (Reuters) - More than 220 people were killed when a fuel tanker overturned and exploded in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, unleashing a fire ball that tore through a town where people were watching the World Cup on TV.

Officials said on Saturday the explosion late on Friday also injured 110 people, adding that the death toll could rise.

They described scenes of devastation in the town of Sange, where houses were burnt and bodies littered the streets. Some people died while trying to steal fuel leaking from the tanker, but most people were killed in their homes and a cinema.

Many of the bodies were charred beyond recognition.

United Nations helicopters began airlifting injured people to hospital, while Congo's army, which lost a number of men in the blast, has sent soldiers in to help with the rescue.

"The death toll is not final, but the latest we have is 220 dead and 111 wounded," said a spokesman for the U.N. mission.

Marcellin Cisambo, governor of South Kivu province, had earlier given a slightly lower toll. The blast occurred when the fuel truck overturned, leaked fuel and then exploded, he said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, but local people said the truck, which was part of a convoy, stopped when the road seemed to crumble, toppling the vehicle and spilling fuel. Fire then erupted.