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Friday, February 4, 2022
At least 26 people were killed on Wednesday in the outskirts of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo when a high-tension electric power cable was struck by lightning and fell to the ground near a marketplace.
The country's energy provider, Société Nationale d'Électricité, said it happened during a severe storm and issued condolences to the victims' families. According to local media and police, the incident occurred in the Matadi-Kibala district and the electrocuted victims were mostly women working at the market.
Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde said in a statement, "I share the immense pain of the families. My thoughts are also with all the injured." A spokesperson said the government was holding a crisis meeting about relocating the market.
The BBC quoted one merchant as saying rains often caused buyers and sellers at the market to wade through water.
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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.