Dozens feared drowned after 2 boats collided in Congo DR
Dozens of people have reportedly lost their lives in a fatal boat accident in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A government official, Eliezer Ntambwe yesterday Tuesday told the Associated Press that the accident happened in the Congo River, east of Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC. Ntambwe has said that the cause of the accident has not been known until now, and that dozens of people are missing following the accident. Witnesses and survivors of the accident say that the boats were carrying too many passengers and cargo. Earlier, Alexis Mampa, the Chief of the Maluku Municipality was quoted by the media as saying that no passengers lost their lives in the accident. Water transport is popular in the DRC Fatal boating accidents occur frequently in the rivers and lakes of DR Congo, where boats are often overloaded. The country has few paved roads in its vast forested area, and traveling through rivers and lakes is common. In January this year, more than 50 people reportedly drowned after their wooden boat capsized in a lake in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Moreover, in October last year, more than 50 people drowned and 167 are missing after the boat they were traveling in capsized on the Congo River, in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
