2023-10-16 22:10:23
At least 47 people died and others are missing following the sinking of a makeshift boat on the Congo River, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Friday, according to the latest report presented Monday by the Minister of Transport. This type of accident is common in the country.
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New river accident in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The sinking of a boat called a “whaleboat” on Friday on the Congo River left at least 47 dead and an unknown number missing, the DR Congo Minister of Transport reported on Monday evening, October 16.
The previous report, communicated on Sunday by the authorities of the province of Équateur (northwest), reported at least 28 dead and dozens missing.
According to information collected early Monday followingnoon by the river commissioner on site, “we had 47 bodies recovered”, declared the Minister of Transport, Marc Ekila, during a press briefing with his counterpart from the Communication and government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya.
“As the boat was in an irregular situation, we were unable to have the manifest to determine exactly the number of passengers who were on board,” he added.
The accident was due to “overloading”, according to the minister, who also recalled that “wooden boats” were not authorized to sail at night.
The “whale” was leaving Mbandaka for the territory of Bolomba, in the province of Équateur, when it capsized during the night from Friday to Saturday.
“We have asked the provincial authorities to set up a commission of inquiry,” added the Minister of Transport.
Frequent shipwrecks, a requested action plan
A large country in Central Africa, DR Congo has very few passable roads and travel is often made on lakes as well as on the Congo River and its tributaries, where shipwrecks are frequent, with often heavy tolls.
According to the report of Friday’s council of ministers, President Félix Tshisekedi, in power since the beginning of 2019 and candidate for re-election next December, asked the government to “do everything possible to avoid shipwrecks (…) the main causes of which are in particular the overloading of passengers and goods, poor marking of waterways, night navigation as well as the non-compliance of boats with regulations.
According to him, “an action plan” is needed so that the Congo River plays a “driving role in economic development” as a waterway.
With AFP
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