Congo, at least 30 dead and dozens missing after a boat collision

Two boats collided over the weekend on the Congo River, leaving at least 30 dead and dozens missing, local authorities announced today.

The wooden motorboats collided with each other on Sunday evening near the Ngombe-Lukolela area, in Equateur province, according to the provincial Minister of the Interior, Crispin Butou.

The cause of the collision was not immediately clear. Butou said that travelling at night has caused many accidents in the past. The minister told the Associated Press that the 30 people killed in the collision have already been buried.

One boat was travelling from Ubangi, in the northwest, towards the capital Kinshasa, and the other from Kinshasa towards Lukolela — near the site of the collision — Butou said, adding that searches were continuing to identify more victims and survivors.

A member of the security forces, who said he saw the collision from the river bank, told AP that the vessel “returning from Ubangi was overloaded with goods and collided with the one coming from Kinshasa”. “Almost all the passengers were trapped under the water and the vessel itself sank,” he added, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to make public statements without the permission of his superiors.

Deadly maritime tragedies are common in the Central African country, with night travel and overcrowded vessels often cited as causes. Poor safety standards and a lack of infrastructure in the country’s remote areas have also contributed to the high number of victims in maritime accidents in recent years.

In July, a wooden boat carrying students after they had sat state exams sank in the central part of the country, killing at least 20 people. The boat was travelling in Kasai province when it sank as it entered the confluence of the Sankuru and Kasai rivers.