Sixty killed as boat capsizes in Congo river

A major boat accident in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 60 people. Minister for humanitarian action Steve Mbikayi said the boat had 700 people on board when it sank in the Congo River in central Africa.

Butembo:At least 60 people died after a boat carrying around 700 capsized in the Congo river in Mai-Ndombe province on Monday.

Steve Mbikayi, minister for humanitarian action, as saying that on Monday 700 people were on board the vessel that sunk near the village of Longola Ekoti, in Mai-Ndombe province, the previous night.

"So far the rescue team has recovered 60 lifeless bodies and 300 survivors. There are still several missing after this shipwreck," Steve Mbikayi said.

The boat had departed from Kinshasa and was heading to Equator province.

"The main cause of the sinking remains the overload of goods and the excess number of passengers in the whaling boat," the minister said, adding "that night navigation also played a role in the sinking".

ANI

Read:|Congo working to stop new Ebola outbreak