41 D£ad, 49 R£scued in DRC Boat D!saster

41 Dead, 49 Rescued in DRC Boat Disaster

At least 41 people have died after a boat carrying about 100 passengers and cargo capsized on Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with 49 people rescued so far.

According to Al Jazeera, the vessel sank near the Congolese village of Mapera while travelling from the port of Kigoma in Tanzania to Kalemie in the DRC. Search operations were underway for passengers still unaccounted for, according to Tanganyika provincial transport minister Norris Mulongoyi, who spoke to the Associated Press.

A survivor, Annie Moyoni, told Radio Okapi, a UN-backed Congolese broadcaster, that passengers were awakened at about 1am and discovered that the boat was tilting to one side shortly before it sank. The cause of the accident remained unclear.

Al Jazeera reported that the latest disaster is the second involving a Congolese vessel on the Kigoma-Kalemie route in less than a month.

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On August 28, the Congolese vessel MV Pacifique caught fire and exploded at the port of Kigoma while loading fuel, according to Radio Okapi. Six crew members were killed, while another was reported missing.

The vessel operated between Kigoma and Kalemie and was used to transport fuel.

At least 20 people were also killed in July when a wooden boat carrying students returning from state examinations sank in central DRC.

Boat accidents have repeatedly caused fatalities in the DRC, where vessels are often overloaded and passengers may lack life jackets. For many people in the country, water transport remains one of the cheapest ways to travel, amid limited road and other transport infrastructure.

The latest incident has renewed concerns about safety standards on the country’s waterways as rescue teams continue searching for those still missing.