At least 200 people died and dozens were injured when a tanker truck filled with oil exploded and set fire to a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Red Cross said on Saturday in Kinshasa.
Earlier local officials said at least 100 people had been killed in the accident which happened yesterday.
"A tanker truck coming from Tanzania overturned in the village of Sange. There was a crush (of people) and a petrol leak, there was an explosion of fuel oil which spread through the village," said Vincent Kabanga, spokesman for the South-Kivu regional government.
The village is located around 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of the Sud-Kivu county town of Bukavu, close to the border with Burundi.
Dozens of mostly earth and straw constructed homes in Sange were engulfed in the blaze after the accident, which a police officer based in Bukavu said had been caused by the truck's "excessive speed."
The officer, who asked not to be named, added that many of those who surrounded the vehicle before it exploded were children. (AFP)
