- At present, the death toll is 61, men, women and children, says Marc Manyonga Ndambo, the company's infrastructure manager.
Local media also report that the area's governor said that 60 people lost their lives in the train crash, which is said to have taken place at midnight on Friday night.
It is a freight train with 15 carriages that derailed and slid down into a ravine.
According to Manyonga Ndambo, "several hundred free passengers" were on board the train.
Due to the lack of passenger trains and passable roads, people in Congo-Kinshasa often use freight trains, even though it is forbidden, to travel long distances.