At least 20 dead, several missing after boat capsizes in northwestern Congo

KINSHASA, Congo — At least 20 people have died, and several remain missing after a boat capsized in northwestern Congo, according to local residents.

The boat, which capsized on Lake Maï-Ndombe on Thursday, was carrying passengers to the capital, Kinshasa. They included a newly ordained Catholic deacon, according to a statement by the local Diocese on Friday.

Speaking to The Associated Press via telephone on Saturday, Emmanuel Bola, a resident of the nearby town of Inongo, said that the boat was traveling from the town of Kiri to Kinshasa when it capsized between the villages of Bobeni and Lobeke around 8 p.m. Thursday night.

The Congolese government has not released an official death toll. Kevani Nkoso, the governor of Maï-Ndombe province, speaking on national TV, said that “we are awaiting details from the teams deployed to the field to determine the number of people killed and the number of survivors.”

The capsizing of boats is becoming increasingly frequent in this central African nation as more people are abandoning the few available roads for cheaper, wooden vessels that are crumbling under the weight of passengers and their goods.

In such trips, life jackets are rare and the vessels are usually overloaded.

Many of the boats also travel at night, complicating rescue efforts and leaving many bodies often unaccounted for.

Earlier this month a capsizing left 64 people missing.

In September, at least 193 people died in northwestern Congo in two separate boat tragedies, which state media attributed to “improper loading and night navigation.”