Cédric Kalonji

Similar to their flying counterparts, the Antonov buses manufactured in the West but altered and tampered with by Congolese mechanics claim casualties every day. This morning, there was an accident in the municipality of Ngaliema, behind the American school in Kinshasa. An old bus ended up against a wall, when its brakes broke down, causing several casualties but fortunately no fatalities.

Because the public hospitals have been hardly functional for the past two months, due to a strike, the casualties were taken to small private medical centers. I personally saw a score of these patients, including five persons whose condition was critical.

No need to ask why these accidents happen, the reasons are so obvious. This morning, this very antique bus had nearly forty people onboard, while it has a seating capacity of twenty persons only. I must also mention the fact that in Congo, you don’t take a test in order to obtain your driving license, you buy it. It is therefore not uncommon to find someone with very limited driving skills at the wheel of a bus transporting several people.

I personally never took a test to get my driving license and I didn’t even need to go and get one. I just gave some money to a friend who went out and bought it for me.

There were no fatalities today, so these moving coffins will continue to run. We will undoubtedly have to wait until a major accident with several fatalities happens before the Congolese authorities set to work on the problem of the Antonovs that continue to be used.