About 50 people were killed in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo when a truck overturned and plunged into a river, the provincial governor's office said on Tuesday.

The accident occurred on Sunday in the copper-mining province of Haut Katanga, Governor Jacques Kyambula's office said in a statement. Only two passengers in the truck survived, the statement said.

Road accidents are common in the country because of decrepit infrastructure and poor safety standards.