Overloaded and then capsized: a boat with hundreds of people on board crashed in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is feared that many of the passengers died.
Dozens of people are believed to have died when a ship sank in Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, not far from the port of Goma. While the AP news agency speaks of at least 78 deaths, the dpa news agency says that several hundred people could have died.
The information on passenger numbers is contradictory. Authorities spokesman Venant Rugusha Descartes told the dpa news agency that 700 people were on the ship. The governor of South Kivu province, Jean-Jacques Purusi, told the AP news agency that 278 people were on board.
Ship was overloaded
The ship, which was probably overloaded, capsized and then quickly sank. The ferry had come to the town near the border with Rwanda from Minova in the neighboring province of South Kivu.
“I was in Kituku port when I saw the boat full of passengers arriving from Minova,” Francine Munyi told the AP. “It started to lose balance and sank into the lake. Some people threw themselves into the water.” Only a few were saved.
Survivor Neema Chimanga reported how she experienced the accident. “We saw the boat half fill with water,” she told the AP. “The boat door opened and we tried to close it. But the water was already coming in and the boat was tilting.” She jumped off board. “I don't know how I got out of the water,” Chimanga said. She is still in shock.
There are always boat accidents
The road network is poorly developed in Africa's second largest country. Boats and passenger ferries are therefore the only means of transport for many people on the large lakes or rivers.
Serious boat accidents are not uncommon in Africa. The ships are often old, overloaded and in poor technical condition. Safety regulations such as wearing life jackets are also often not adhered to.
