"i mean what can one really say about this"
CNN) -- A government spokesman said Saturday 204 people were killed and at least 190 were injured when an oil tanker flipped over and exploded in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a government spokesman said Saturday.
Five of the dead were United Nations peacekeepers, said Mende Omalanga, the country's minister of communications.
The tanker flipped over while attempting to overtake a bus on a national road in South Kivu province, on the country's eastern border, he said.
When oil began to spill from the overturned tanker, local residents attempted to collect the oil. One was smoking a cigarette, causing the tanker to explode, Omalanga said.
He said the number of dead was expected to rise.
Some of the injured were being treated locally in surrounding villages, but most were sent to the nearby town of Uvira, he said.
