On 2 February 2022, a power cable collapsed in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 26 people. The accident occurred at a market in Matadi-Kibala on the outskirts of the capital of the DRC. The cable fell onto houses and shoppers, with the live end landing in a ditch that was filled with rain from earlier in the day. The country's national electricity company said that it believed the cable broke because it had been hit by lightning.[1]
The victims were mostly sellers and customers at the market, but some passers-by were also killed.[2]
Kinshasa's governor Gentiny Ngobila [fr] promised to pass new laws prohibiting "anarchic construction" in response to the tragedy. The government paid and arranged for the victims' funerals.[3]
