Approximately 145 people are
missing after a motorized boat capsized earlier this week on a river in the
northwestern Congo’s Equateur province, an official said Thursday.
The boat was headed to Lilanga
in the neighboring Republic of Congo when it sank on the Lulonga River
overnight Tuesday near the town of Basankusu, Jean-Pierre Wangela, the head of
civil society groups in the area, told reporters.
He attributed the accident to overcrowding.
“The boat was overloaded with
people and goods. It capsized at around midnight causing human losses. There
were roughly 200 people on board,” he said. “About 55 people survived the
disaster.”
Wangela denounced the poor
means of transport in the province which he said leaves residents with no
option.
More than 40 people died in
October when a boat capsized downstream of Wendji-Secli locality about 20
kilometers (12 miles) southwest of Mbandaka in Equateur.
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