KINSHASA — At least 19 people drowned and around 80 others were reported missing when a boat capsized in the Congo River in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said Monday.
The ferry was carrying at least 190 passengers and cargo when it sank in darkness early Sunday near Ankoro, some 770 kilometres (480 miles) northwest of regional capital Lubumbashi, local official Jean-Pierre Mulongoy told AFP.
"We could save 97 people and we buried 19 bodies that we recovered from the water," he said, updating the previous toll of 15 dead.
"The rest are still in the river," added Mulongoy, referring to a new count of 80 passengers still unaccounted for.
He said overloading was the likely cause of the disaster.
The chief medical official in the region said the survivors were at risk of getting cholera and measles.
"They are living in a shed without latrines and drinking water from the river filled with corpses," said Doctor Elie Ndoba, describing the precarious living conditions provided for the survivors.
Congolese Health Minister Mopipi Mukulumanya told AFP the government was waiting for financial aid from donors so it could bring help to the survivors.
An elected official from the region, Jean-Claude Banze Buana, told AFP by telephone that help from Kinshasa was urgently needed as Ankoro did not have the means to deal with such a disaster.
Most of the survivors come from the small village of Kongolo, about 170 kilometres (105 miles) from Ankoro.
Rivers in the vast central African country are a major means of transportation, and the Congo at 4,700 kilometres (2,920 miles) is the second longest river in Africa after the Nile.
At least 11 accidents with capsized boats took place in Congo last year, causing the deaths of some 100 people with another 280 left missing, according to an AFP tally of such incidents in Congolese waters.
Copyright © 2009 AFP
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