(Bloomberg) -- At least 18 people died when a truck transporting sulphuric acid to a mine owned by Glencore Plc in the Democratic Republic of Congo crashed and spilled its contents onto two vehicles, a provincial health minister said.
The tanker was heading to the Mutanda Mine, a copper and cobalt operation near Kolwezi in the southeast of the country, Lualaba province Health Minister Samy Kayombo Mukanza said. Nine people are also injured, he said.
“The acid was sprayed over people and vehicles,” Jean-Marie Tshizainga, mines minister for the province, said.
The accident occurred on Feb. 20 about 50 kilometers (35 miles) from the mine, whose officials assisted in the rescue operation, Glencore said in an emailed statement. The truck belonged to a logistics company contracted by the mine, it said.
To contact the reporter on this story: William Clowes in Kinshasa at wclowes@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Hilton Shone, Liezel Hill
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