DRC death toll hits 47
2008-07-25 18:06
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Kinshasa - Officials say a motorised boat has sunk in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 47 people. Some 100 people were missing.
District Commissioner Mathieu Modeste Bella said that the 47 bodies had been recovered from the Ubangi River. Twenty-seven survivors were also helped to shore.
Bella said on Friday the boat was carrying at least 182 passengers, mostly merchants but also women and children.
The boat went down on Tuesday after it left the DRC town of Mobayi Bongo. It was headed for the Central African Republic. Because of the state of roads, many people preferred to take the small boats even if they did not know how to swim.
- AP