At least 41 people have died and 49 others have been rescued after a boat carrying about 100 passengers and cargo capsized on Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Thursday.
Search operations are under way to find those still missing, Norris Mulongoyi, provincial transport minister for the DRC’s Tanganyika province, told The Associated Press.
The vessel was travelling from Kigoma port in Tanzania to Kalemie in the DRC when it sank near the Congolese village of Mapera.
Annie Moyoni, a survivor, told UN-backed Congolese broadcaster Radio Okapi that passengers were awakened at around 1am after the boat began tilting to one side.
The exact cause of the accident remains unclear. However, hundreds of people have died in boat disasters across the DRC in recent years, with vessels often overloaded and lacking life jackets, according to the AP.
Boat travel is the cheapest and most affordable form of transport for many people in the DRC, one of the world’s poorest countries. The country also lacks adequate infrastructure for its population of more than 100 million.
Thursday’s sinking was the second loss of a Congolese vessel on the Kigoma-Kalemie route in less than a month.
On 28 August, the Congolese vessel MV Pacifique caught fire and exploded at Kigoma port while loading fuel, Radio Okapi reported, citing port authorities. The vessel operated between Kigoma and Kalemie to transport fuel. Six crew members were killed and another was reported missing.
In another maritime accident in July, at least 20 people died when a wooden boat carrying students returning from state examinations sank in central DRC.
