KINSHASA: An overloaded truck hurtled through an informal street market in Goma in eastern DR Congo, killing seven people and badly wounding 10, an official and a witness told AFP on Friday.

Six people died on the scene of the crash Thursday night, and a seventh succumbed in hospital on Friday, said Goma mayor Timothee Muissa Kiense.

Witness Aimee Kasirani, a 32-year-old vegetable vendor, said the truck was off-balance and careened uncontrollably into the roadside market, "crushing our colleagues".

Muissa vowed action to prevent a repeat.

"From next week, the police will take care of any person who dares to display merchandise on a public road," he said.

Traffic accidents are common in the vast African country, with poorly-maintained infrastructure and the majority of roads made of dirt.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Press), 2019
 

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