Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has expressed his condolences to Congo's President Joseph Kabila over an oil tanker explosion that claimed many lives, the Kremlin press office reported on Sunday.
"Please accept my sincere condolences over the tragedy that has claimed more than two hundred human lives in your country... and convey the words of compassion and support to the relatives of those killed and injured in the accident," Medvedev said in a telegram.
Over 200 people are thought to have died when an oil tanker exploded in a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo late on Saturday. The accident occurred when a truck coming from Tanzania crashed in the village of Sange in the east of the African state.
Some reports say many of those who died in the blast were children who had approached the overturned vehicle just before it exploded.
The village is home to a large amount of Congolese soldiers and their families.
According to the local branch of the Red Cross, the blast killed 221 and injured 214 people.
MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti)
