What happened

A high-voltage power cable fell onto houses and market stalls at the Matadi-Kibala market on the outskirts of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 2 February 2022. The cable's live end landed in a ditch filled with rainwater from earlier in the day, electrocuting market vendors, customers and bystanders in the area. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's national electricity company attributed the cable failure to a lightning strike that had damaged the line. Twenty-six people were killed; no injuries beyond the fatalities were reported. This is documented as an accidental infrastructure failure, not an attack.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.