Tragedy engulfs Sange in the DRC as tanker explodes
At least 221 people are dead, according to the Red Cross, after a fuel tanker overturned and burst into flames in a town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A similar number of people were wounded.
The petrol tanker was transporting fuel from Tanzania when it lost control and crashed in the small town of Sange, which is around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the regional capital of Bukavu.
After the tanker crashed, the fuel spread through the village before the tanker caught fire, creating a deadly chain of events that the Red Cross has said is not yet over, with the death toll likely to rise as rescue workers tally the dead and injured.
It is unclear what caused the explosion, but the death toll is likely to have been influenced by people running to the scene of the crash to try and capture some of the spilled petrol, a highly valuable commodity in the war-torn country.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is preparing to send body bags and medicine to the village and will make arrangements for the injured to be airlifted to hospital, said James Reynolds, deputy head of the ICRC delegation in the region.
The majority of those killed were indoors at the time of the explosion, crowded into the few homes with a television to watch the World Cup match on Friday night; the fire quickly engulfed many of the houses in the village, burning people alive.
A spokesman for the Congolese Red Cross said the dead included sixty one children and 36 women.
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