DOZENS of people were killed and as many as 100 others suffered serious burns Saturday after an oil tanker collided with a vehicle on an arterial highway in the west of DR Congo.

The accident occurred on the road linking the capital Kinshasa to the country’s sole seaport at Matadi on the Atlantic Ocean.

“We have counted 53 charred bodies,” said Florian, a witness, speaking at the disaster site in the village of Mbuba, about 120 kilometers west of Kinshasa.

Seven others with grievous burn injuries died at the Saint-Luc hospital in Kisantu, a nearby city, he said.

President Joseph Kabila declared a three-day national mourning for the people who died in the highway traffic tragedy.

The president also asked for a full assistance for the victims and the arranging of funerals for the dead in the accident, according to a statement of the Presidency carried by the national television RTNC.

The U.N.’s Okapi radio said the flames spread rapidly and engulfed nearby houses. The U.N. mission in DRC, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, said it had sent nine ambulances to the spot to evacuate the injured.(SD-Agencies)