DR Congo boat collision kills at least 30, dozens missing

Two vessels crashed while navigating the Congo River in Equateur province at night.

Congolese villagers cross the Ruki river on a small canoe in Balongo, in Equateur, northwestern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Boats carrying people and goods are often overloaded and have little-to-no safety equipment [File: Handout via Radio Opaki]

A boat collision on a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 30 people, with dozens more reported missing.

Two vessels crashed into one another as they navigated the Congo river, officials said on Monday. The accident took place on Sunday evening near the Ngombe-Lukolela area in Equateur province in the northwest of the country.

list 1 of 3 DR Congo observes day of mourning for boat accident victims

list 2 of 3 Dozens dead as boat in DR Congo capsizes

list 3 of 3 Many dead in DR Congo boat accident

The officials said that 30 people had drowned during the incident. Search-and-rescue efforts have been launched to try to find the missing.

Crispin Mputu, interior minister of Equateur province, told the state-owned news agency Agence Congolaise Presse that “a metal vessel named ‘Dieu se cache,’ was coming from Kinshasa,” the country’s capital, when it crashed with a “wooden vessel called ‘HB Super Victoire,’ [that] was coming from Businga”.

“Almost all the passengers on board were trapped underwater, and the boat itself also sank,” he added.

Mputu said the people who drowned have already been buried.

It is unclear what caused the crash. Mputu noted that many accidents have occurred as boats travel at night.

A security officer who witnessed the incident told The Associated Press news agency that the boat travelling from Kinshasa was overloaded with goods.

Boating tragedies are common in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where late-night travel and overcrowded vessels are often blamed.

Poor safety standards and a lack of infrastructure in remote parts of the country also contribute to boating disasters, which have killed hundreds of people in recent years.

In July, a wooden boat transporting students back from state exams sank, killing at least 20 people in the country’s Kasai province.

两艘船只夜间在赤道省刚果河上航行时相撞。

在刚果民主共和国西北部赤道省巴隆戈，刚果村民乘坐小独木舟渡过鲁基河。载人载货的船只经常超载，而且几乎没有安全设备。[图片：由奥帕基电台提供]

刚果民主共和国一条河流上发生船只相撞事故，造成至少30人死亡，另有数十人失踪。

官员周一表示，两艘船只在刚果河上航行时相撞。事故发生在周日晚间，地点位于该国西北部赤道省恩戈姆贝-卢科莱拉地区附近。

列表 1/3 刚果民主共和国为船难遇难者举行哀悼日

列表 2/3：刚果民主共和国船只倾覆，数十人死亡

列表 3/3：刚果民主共和国船只事故造成多人死亡

官方称，事故中有30人溺水身亡。搜救行动已经展开，以寻找失踪人员。

赤道省内政部长克里斯平·姆普图告诉国营通讯社刚果新闻社，“一艘名为‘Dieu se cache’的金属船只从首都金沙萨驶来”，与一艘名为‘HB Super Victoire’的木制船只相撞，该船从布辛加驶来。

“船上几乎所有乘客都被困在水下，船本身也沉没了，”他补充道。

姆普图说，溺水者已被埋葬。

目前尚不清楚事故原因。姆普图指出，夜间航行的船只事故屡见不鲜。

一名目击事件的保安人员告诉美联社，这艘从金沙萨出发的船只超载了货物。

在刚果民主共和国，船只事故频发，人们常常将事故归咎于深夜出行和船只超载。

该国偏远地区安全标准低下、基础设施匮乏也是造成船只事故频发的原因之一，近年来，船只事故已造成数百人死亡。

7 月，一艘载着参加完国家考试的学生返程的木船在韩国葛西省沉没，造成至少 20 人死亡。