A fiery truck collision earlier today, June 23, brought traffic to a standstill on the N1 route serving Copperbelt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
According to footage seen by the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), a blazing inferno erupted along a line of queuing trucks.
A man, presumably a long-distance driver, can be heard urging people to escape the scene and move their trucks out of the way.
According to further information on Fesarta’s Transit Assistance Bureau (Transist), the accident happened about one kilometre south of the Whiskey checkpoint and truck stop, some 14 kilometres north of the DRC’s Kasumbalesa border with Zambia.
A Transist member said one of the trucks was apparently carrying sulphur, used on the mines at Lubumbashi and Kolwezi.
At just after noon it had not yet been established whether the accident had claimed any fatalities, but in all likelihood, the drivers of the two trucks didn’t survive as the canopies of both rigs seem to have been gutted.
From what can be seen, one truck was carrying a container, while another was an empty flatbed, most likely heading south.
Before the fire was extinguished, the blaze was right across the road.
Earlier this afternoon, the one truck's ensuing wreckage remained perpendicular, blocking traffic in both directions.
The accident will most certainly add to congestion at the Kasumbalesa crossing, one of the most problematic borders for freight in and out of the Copperbelt.
