At least 41 die as boat capsizes in DRC’s Lake Tanganyika
At least 41 people have died, and 49 others have been rescued, after a boat capsized on Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Norris Mulongoyi, the provincial transport minister for DRC’s Tanganyika province, told The Associated Press news agency that search operations were under way to locate the remaining passengers The […]
A boat capsized on Lake Tanganyika, resulting in at least 41 deaths and the rescue of 49 others, according to the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Tanganyika province. Norris Mulongoyi, the provincial transport minister, stated that search operations were ongoing to locate the remaining passengers. The vessel, carrying around 100 people and cargo, was en route from the Tanzanian port of Kigoma to the Congolese city of Kalemie when it sank on Thursday.
Annie Moyoni, a survivor, informed Radio Okapi that the boat's passengers were awakened around 1am and discovered the vessel leaning to one side. The cause of the capsizing remains unclear, but numerous fatalities have occurred in boat accidents in the DRC in recent years due to overloaded vessels and the lack of life jackets. Traveling by boat is often the most affordable means of transportation in the DRC, a country grappling with severe poverty and inadequate infrastructure for its population of over 100 million people.
This incident marks the second vessel loss on the Kigoma-Kalemie route in less than a month; on August 28, a Congolese vessel called MV Pacifique caught fire and exploded at the Kigoma port during fuel loading, killing six crew members and leaving one crew member unaccounted for. Additionally, a wooden boat transporting students returning from state exams capsized in central DRC in July, claiming at least 20 lives.
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