At least 25 people, including children, were killed and dozens missing after an overcrowded boat capsized on a river in central Congo on Tuesday, officials and local residents said.
The ship was believed to have more than 100 passengers on board after leaving the town of Inongo, northeast of the capital Kinshasa. It overturned a few hundred meters (yards) on its journey along the Fimi River, the latest such tragedy to strike Congo.
The search for the missing persons continued on Tuesday as there were concerns that the death toll could be higher.
“There was overloading at roof level and as far as lifeless human bodies are concerned, at least 25 have been pulled out,” said David Kalemba, river commissioner in Inongo.
According to Alex Mbumba, a resident of the area, the overturned boat was also full of goods. “There are children among the dead, but it is difficult to give a definitive death toll as there are many passengers on the boat now,” Mbumba said.
Tuesday’s wreck was the fourth this year in Mai-Ndombe province, an area surrounded by rivers and where many depend on river transport.
Congolese authorities have often warned against overloading and vowed to punish those who violate safety measures for water transport. However, in remote areas where many commuters come, many are unable to afford public transport for the roads available.
At least 78 people drowned when an overloaded boat capsized in the east of the country in October, and 80 people died in a similar accident near Kinshasa in June.
The latest accident has prompted the government to equip the province with flotation devices.
“Government must work to improve safety in our province’s waters (because) navigation conditions are dangerous,” Mbumba said.
The capsizing of overloaded boats is also increasingly common in the central African nation as many people forsake available roads for wooden vessels that are laden with passengers and their goods for safety reasons.
Roads are often mired in deadly clashes between Congolese security forces and rebels that sometimes block key access routes. So far this year, hundreds of people have died or been declared missing in such accidents.
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