Republic of Congo

KINSHASA, May 14 (Xinhua) -- President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi said on Thursday that he attaches great importance to DRC-China relations and intends to deepen mining and infrastructure cooperation with Chinese companies.

Tshisekedi made the remarks while inspecting the Sino Congolaise des Mines (Sicomines), a joint venture between the DRC state mining company Gecamines and a group of Chinese companies, in Kolwezi of the southeastern province of Lualaba.

(Reuters) --- The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday declared the end of an Ebola outbreak that infected 12 people in the eastern province of North Kivu and killed six of them.

The outbreak was contained using Merck's (MRK.N) Ebola vaccine, which was given to more than 1,600 of the patients' contacts and contacts of contacts, the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said.

(Reuters) --- Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on Friday declared a state of siege over the worsening violence in the eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu that has killed hundreds this year and displaced more than 1.5 million.

A surge in attacks by armed militias and inter-communal violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have killed over 300 people since the start of the year as government troops and U.N. peacekeepers struggle to stabilize the mineral-rich territory.

BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Congo Republic voted for president on Sunday, with the incumbent Denis Sassou Nguesso widely expected to extend his 36-year rule despite an economic crisis in the Central African oil producer.

The president’s main rival, former government minister Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, was in hospital with COVID-19 and could be evacuated to France on Sunday, Kolelas’ campaign director told Radio France Internationale.

KINSHASA, March 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The DR Congo will postpone its vaccination campaign using the AstraZeneca jab, following other countries taking similar precautionary measures, the government said.

The Democratic Republic of Congo had received 1.7 million doses of the vaccine against Covid-19 made by Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and was due to start its campaign on March 15.

“As a precautionary measure, we decided to postpone the date for the launch of vaccination in the DRC,” Health Minister Eteni Longondo said in a statement.

KINSHASA, Feb 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Four people have died from Ebola during a new outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where people are resisting measures to contain the disease, officials said.

Since the epidemic’s resurgence this month, “we have already registered six Ebola cases. We have lost four infected people,” Doctor Eugene Syalita, the provincial health minister in North Kivu province in the DRC’s northeast, said.

Syalita said one person died Friday and another on Saturday, while the two others died at the beginning of the month.

KINSHASA, Feb 16 (NNN-TELESUR) — The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Humanitarian Action Minister Steve Mbikayi informed that 60 people died after a boat sank in the Congo River on Sunday night.

“The boat was sailing at night with an excess of passengers, which is forbidden by authorities,” Mbikayi explained as he urged punishing those responsible for the accident and demanded justice for the victims. 

The Congolese government “will demand sanctions and bring those responsible to justice to answer for their actions,” Mbikayi added.

GOMA (DR Congo), Dec 7 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Eight people were killed by unidentified gunmen in a shootout in a working-class neighbourhood of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the governor of North Kivu said.

“Two individuals arrived on a motorbike at a barber shop and killed two people, firing without warning. Then they stole some phones. They then fired indiscriminately on the population, resulting in a death toll of eight people,” Carly Nzanzu Kasivita, governor of North Kivu told newmen.

BENI (Reuters) - Armed men freed at least 900 prisoners from a jail in Beni, east Democratic Republic of Congo, in a coordinated attack in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the town’s mayor said, blaming an Islamist militant group operating in the area.

Only 100 out of more than 1,000 inmates remained following the simultaneous assault on the Kangbayi central prison and on the military camp defending it, said Modeste Bakwanamaha.

KINSHASA, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 50 people are feared dead after a gold mine collapsed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local authorities said Saturday.

The accident occurred on Friday afternoon in the town of Kamituga in South Kivu province following heavy rains.

Photos and videos on social media showed hundreds of people, some of whom could be heard wailing on a hillside around the mine-shaft entrance.