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MB church members among dead and wounded in Congo fuel explosion
By Mennonite World Conference staffKINSHASA, Congo — Mennonite Brethren churches in eastern Congo are raising funds to aid victims of a July 2 fuel truck explosion that killed or wounded more than 100 members of one of their congregations.
About 250 people were killed and 200 were injured after a fuel truck overturned in Sange, a town in eastern Congo’s South Kivu province, according to international news reports. The fuel spilled and caught fire, causing a major explosion.
According to Charles Mbuyi, a Mennonite pastor in Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province, 51 of the dead and 50 of the injured were from the MB congregation in Sange.
MB churches in eastern Congo are collecting contributions locally for the victims. Outside assistance is also being organized.
Congo’s Protestant church umbrella organization, the Église du Christ au Congo (Church of Christ of Congo), or ECC, reported that U.N. agencies, the Congo Red Cross, and the International Committee of the Red Cross all responded quickly with the evacuation of the injured.
The ECC also reported 20 homes were destroyed in the fire, numerous children lost both parents and many survivors are suffering from psychological trauma.
Tim Lind, Mennonite World Conference staff and Mennonite Central Committee representative in Congo, is communicating with Mennonite and ECC leaders in Bukavu to determine which needs are unmet. MCC then will evaluate how best to respond.
The ECC, MCC’s primary partner for its work in the Congo, includes the three Mennonite denominations in the Congo, all MWC member bodies. Those denominations have more than 220,400 members, the largest Mennonite population in a single nation other than the United States, according to 2009 MWC data.
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