About 30 people have drowned, leaving 167 persons still missing after a boat capsized on the Congo river late Friday evening, October 13 in northwestern DR Congo, according to a report by the provincial minister on Sunday, October 15.
Didier Mbula, the provincial health minister for Equateur Province, had revealed that 189 people have been rescued and that the search for missing persona was still ongoing.
Mbula had said:
“According to the numbers we have so far at the provincial government, 30 corpses have been found, however 167 people are still missing.”
Deadly boat accidents are frequent in Congolese waters, where vessels are usually loaded well over their capacity. The country has a few tarred roads across its vast, forested territory, and traveling by river is the norm.
Mbula had revealed that the locally made boat that overturned close the town of Mbandaka was overloaded, carrying over 300 people, and it was sailing at night.
“There’s the possibility that the toll could rise because we have just recovered the 30th corpse.” he said.
