70 Die and 200 Are Feared Dead as 2 Boats Capsize on Congo Rivers
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo (AP) — Two boats capsized in one weekend on Congo’s vast rivers, leaving 70 people dead and 200 others feared dead in unrelated accidents that both involved heavily loaded boats operated with few safety measures, officials said Sunday.
Early Saturday, a boat on the Rupi River in northwest Equateur Province hit a rock and capsized, a provincial spokeswoman, Ebale Engumba, said Sunday. She said more than 70 people were believed dead among an estimated 100 passengers. She said officials were investigating why the boat was traveling through the darkness without a light.
In another accident on the Kasai River in Kasai-Occidental Province, 200 people were feared dead after a boat loaded with passengers and fuel drums caught fire and capsized in southern Congo, survivors said Sunday.
The episode in southern Congo would be the deadliest boat accident in that country and among the worst in Africa this year.
The boats that cross Congo’s rivers are often in poor repair and filled beyond capacity. The industry is not well regulated and operators are known to fill boats to dangerous levels.
In the first accident, in northwest Congo, Ms. Engumba said officials believed the boat’s lack of lighting was responsible.
“We are going to arrest people involved who are in charge of regulating the boat’s movement who failed to stop that boat from traveling at night,” she said.
In the second accident, survivors said the boat was overloaded with people and goods. Francois Madila, a local official, said two of the boat’s crew members had been arrested, but he did not say how many people were aboard.
A survivor, Romaine Mishondo, said the boat was already packed with hundreds of passengers when it stopped about 10 minutes before the fire to pick up more people.
When the fire started and people began jumping overboard, she said, nearby fishermen ignored pleas for help.
“Fishermen attacked the boat and started beating passengers with paddles” as they tried to loot goods, she said.
The boat’s owner said a survivor and an employee had told him that workers spilled fuel and the engine ignited.
Reposted from The New York Times
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