A ship carrying greater than 270 passengers has capsized on a river close to Congo’s capital of Kinshasa, leaving greater than 80 useless, President Félix Tshisekedi mentioned Wednesday.
It was the most recent lethal boat accident within the central African nation the place overloading is usually blamed, together with in February when dozens misplaced their lives after an overloaded boat sank.
AT LEAST 49 DEAD AND 140 MISSING AFTER MIGRANT BOAT SINKS NEAR YEMEN, UN AGENCY SAYS
A press release quoting Tshisekedi mentioned the regionally made boat capsized late Monday in Maï-Ndombe province alongside the Kwa River.
The flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is seen in Beijing, Might 26, 2023. (Photograph by Wang Xin/VCG)
The boat was carrying 271 passengers to Kinshasa when it broke down because of an engine failure, in response to the U.N.-backed Radio Okapi, citing Ren Maker, the water commissioner within the Mushi district the place the accident occurred.
Eighty-six of the passengers died whereas 185 managed to swim ashore, some 43 miles close to the closest metropolis of Mushie, Maker mentioned.
He mentioned the boat hit the sting of the river financial institution and broke up.
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Congolese officers have typically warned in opposition to overloading and vowed to punish these violating security measures for water transportation. However in distant areas the place most passengers come from, many are unable to afford public transport for the few accessible roads.
