Dozens killed in shipwreck in Democratic Republic of Congo Deadly attack on teachers: France mobilizes 7,000 soldiers

At least 28 people have been killed in a shipwreck in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Dozens of passengers are still missing, authorities in the northwestern province of Equateur said on Sunday.

The ship, which started in the provincial capital Mbandaka, sank in the Congo River on Friday evening. By Sunday, 28 bodies had been pulled from the water.

“Dozens of people are still missing and the search is ongoing,” Equateur Home Minister Chrispin Mputu told the AFP news agency. The exact number of passengers is still unclear because the passenger list has disappeared.

A non-governmental organization has already cited significantly higher numbers of victims. Fifty bodies were recovered on Saturday and Sunday, said Joseph Boyoko Lokondo of the organization Génération consciente (“Conscious Generation”). There are about 100 missing and 20 to 30 people survived the accident. According to Boyoko, the ship had 200 passengers.

There are few motorable roads in the huge Central African country, meaning a lot of traffic travels across the lakes, the Congo River and its tributaries. Shipping accidents with many fatalities occur again and again.

In 2019, around 100 people were killed in an accident at Lake Kuvi in ​​the east of the country. After the accident, President Félix Tshisekedi ordered all ship passengers to wear life jackets. However, this order is still rarely followed today. (sda/afp)