45 killed in DRC boat accident
2007-12-19 17:03
Kinshasa - Rescue efforts are underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after a fleet of boats capsized on the Tshuapa river, killing at least 45 people, reports said on Wednesday.
Some 80 people were on board the motorised canoes when they went under on Sunday night, United Nations-backed Radio Okapi reported, adding that scores were still missing.
It was unclear what caused the accident, but survivors said the boats capsized because of the lack of visibility at night.
They were hired out by mobile service provider Vodacom and were transporting fuel to their facilities in Boende, in the north-western Equateur province.
This was the second boat accident in two weeks in Equateur province, after a boat went under on the Congo river on December 9, killing at least 12 people.
Because of a lack of roads in the vast DRC, Congolese are forced to travel along the many rivers that snake through the country on shoddy boats and canoes that are often overloaded.
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA