A brake failure led to a disaster in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a train derailment killing about 100 people according to the latest reports released by officials on Thursday.

The accident occurred Wednesday night in a secluded area between Ilebo and Kanaga, the capital of Kasai-Occidental province. Preliminary investigations revealed that the braking system didn’t respond to the conductor’s commands and seven boxcars jumped off the tracks and overturned.

Initial reports from the region said 30 people died, but authorities said many more were trapped under tons of steel and heavy machinery was expected in order to lift the heavy cars.

The United Nations mission in the Congo (MONUC) detached numerous personnel and medical equipment by helicopter in the region in order to provide assistance to the emergency teams arrived at the crash site.

The train was supposed to be transporting cargo, but people in the country often travel illegally in such trains, putting their lives in danger. Unfortunately, the infrastructure is ailing with little improvement being brought to railways built more than a century ago by Belgian colonizers.