Death aboard a train for 100 refugees

The dead were discovered when the train reached Kisangani, and the injured were being treated at a Kisangani hospital, he said.

Despite the fact that the doors of the wagons were open, there was obviously a panic and people died,8221; he said in Kisangani.

Rebel forces in control of the Kisangani area have been packing all the refugees they can find onto trains and dumping them on aid workers at a transit camp, where the United Nations is rushing to airlift the Rwandans home.

Stromberg said, 8220;this will not stop repatriation, but we need more control over the movement of people.8221;the UNHCR has flown about 5,000 refugees to Rwanda since the airlift started a week ago.

Last week, rebel leader Laurent Kabila lifted objections to plans for the biggest refugee airlift even attempted in Africa. Instead, he said aid workers had until June 30 to clear out the refugees or his men would handle it themselves.

About 30,000 Rwanda refugees have gathered at Biaro, a squalid refugee camp.