Kinshasa power cable collapse

On 2 February 2022, a power cable collapsed in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 26 people.[1] The accident occurred at a market in Matadi-Kibala on the outskirts of the capital of the DRC.[1] 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.[1] The country's national electricity company said that it believed the cable broke because it had been hit by lightning.[1]

Kinshasa's governor Gentiny Ngobila promised to pass new laws prohibiting "anarchic construction" in response to the tragedy. The government paid and arranged for the victims' funerals.[2]