Congo train crash kills at least 100

A train crash in a remote part of Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least 100 people and injured more than 200, the central African country's Minister of Information said yesterday.

"We are still discovering the dead. So right now we are putting the death toll at about 100," Toussaint Tshilombo told Reuters.

He added that the cause of the crash was still unknown.

Injured survivors initially walked or were transported by bicycle from the scene of the wreck 12 kilometres to the nearest hospital, Congo's UN peacekeeping mission said. Of more than 220 hurt, 128 people were seriously injured, it said.

Congo has few paved roads outside the capital Kinshasa, and many Congolese rely on trains as the only affordable way of crossing the central African nation's vast interior.