Under Mobutu Sese Seko's negligent and plunderous rule, much of the Belgian-built road system was buried under rainforest or destroyed by heavy lorries and lack of maintenance.
Despite the images of teenage looters beamed across the world during last year’s riots, young people in Britain are broadly, and increasingly, well-behaved.
Notre Dame, after all, is an architectural hybrid, the product of different centuries, ransacked during the wars of religion and looted during the revolution.
The law-abiding majority suddenly saw that some of their compatriots were happy to torch cars and buildings, loot shops, and attack firemen and ambulance crews.