26 people were fatally electrocuted and two serious injured on Wednesday, after the power cable snapped due to bad weather and fell on a market and housing below, in Kinshasa , the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo .
The fallen cable killed 24 women and two men, while another two people were seriously injured. The “bad weather” responsible for the tragedy was reportedly lightning, which struck the cable.
The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, announced the tragedy in a statement today.
“I share the immense pain of the families. My thoughts are also with all the injured,” the prime minister said.
Congo’s national association of electricians said the Kinshasa market tragedy could have been avoided and was the result of mistreatment of planning regulations.
DRC government ministers visited the scene of the accident in an expression of solidarity, and government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya announced that the local authorities had begun the relocation of the affected Kinshasa market.
Muyaya said the accident had “accelerated the process to prevent other tragedies.”