Khaberni - At least 19 people died in a boat sinking on Lake Mai-Ndombe in the western Democratic Republic of Congo, in a new incident highlighting the fragility of the country's river transport and the frequency of fatal accidents associated with it.
The accident occurred late on Thursday night, when the boat set off from the village of Kiri heading towards the capital Kinshasa, before being overturned by strong waves amid strong winds that disabled one of its engines.
The provincial governor Nkuso Kivani Lipo stated that rescue teams have so far retrieved 19 bodies, while 82 people were rescued, but the number of missing persons remains undetermined.
Local officials clarified that the boat was carrying about 200 passengers, which greatly exceeds its capacity.
Mushi province representative, Freddy Bonziki Ileki, confirmed that maritime safety regulations are often ignored, noting that he has repeatedly asked for wooden boats to be banned from the lake, but to no avail.
A Recurring Crisis
Drowning incidents are not new in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where rural area residents widely rely on river transport to move between villages and cities.
The boats are often dilapidated or overloaded beyond their capacity, making them prone to fatal accidents.
In September last year, about 200 people were killed in two separate sinking incidents in other parts of the country.
These recurring disasters raise questions about the lack of strict oversight of water transport, weak infrastructure, and the absence of safe alternatives for residents of remote areas.
Local activists are calling for strict safety standards to be enforced and the river transport fleet to be modernized, to prevent the recurrence of such tragedies that claim hundreds of lives annually.
