There are at least 75 deaths following the derailment of a train in Lualaba province, south of Congo’s capital Kinshasa.
Additionally, Kapenda said, at least 125 people were injured in the incident and were taken to two area hospitals for treatment.
On Twitter, President Félix Tshisekedi expressed condolences to the victims’ families.
Last week’s derailment of a freight train killed 60 people, and that number climbed to at least 75 over the weekend, according to Lualaba’s provincial interior minister Deodat Kapenda.
Radio Okapi, a U.N. radio channel, reports the deaths were likely caused by illegal stowaways.
According to the provincial minister of social affairs Nathalie Lunda Ngandu, the train derailed when climbing a hill. A number of wagons fell into a ravine as a result.
The rail lines and carriages on trains in Congo are poorly maintained, which leads to many derailments.
Because there are no good roads and passenger trains for traveling long distances, people often take freight trains to get where they need to go.
There were nine people died when a train derailed in Kenzenze in the Mutshatsha region of the same province in October.
