At the very least 60 individuals have died and tons of are lacking after a ship capsized within the Congo River in western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in accordance with a authorities official.
Steve Mbikayi, minister for humanitarian motion, instructed Al Jazeera on Monday 700 individuals had been on board the vessel that sunk close to the village of Longola Ekoti, in Mai-Ndombe province, the earlier evening.
“Up to now the rescue workforce has recovered 60 lifeless our bodies and 300 survivors. There are nonetheless a number of lacking after this shipwreck,” Mbikayi stated.
The vessel had departed from the capital, Kinshasa, and was heading to Equator province.
“The principle explanation for the sinking stays the overload of products and the surplus variety of passengers within the whaling boat,” the minister stated, including “that evening navigation additionally performed a task within the sinking”.
Boat accidents are widespread within the huge mineral-rich nation as a result of vessels are sometimes overloaded with passengers and cargo. A lot of the passengers travelling on vessels additionally typically don’t put on life jackets.
Final month, no less than three individuals, two kids and one lady, drowned after a passenger boat sank in Lake Kivu.
In 2020, 10 individuals, together with an eight-year-old woman, died after the leisure boat they had been travelling on capsized in Lake Kivu. In July 2010, greater than 135 individuals died after a ship capsized within the western province of Bandundu province.
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