40 presumed dead after passenger boat capsizes in lake in Democratic Republic of Congo

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Forty people are presumed dead after a passenger boat capsized in a lake in South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a senior official said on Wednesday, who added that 10 people have so far been rescued and five bodies have been recovered since the incident on Sunday.

Families' hopes for finding survivors faded as search efforts entered their third day on Wednesday, following the boat capsize in Lake Kivu in Idjwi territory in South Kivu province on Sunday evening.

The wooden boat, which was crossing Lake Kivu from Bukavu to Idjwi territory with an estimated 50 passengers on board, sank due to a strong wave, Mustafa Mamboleo, a South Kivu province official told reporters in Idjwi town on Tuesday.

He added that the accident could have been caused by overloading, as the boat was also carrying goods.

"After the incident, marines recovered the boat captain's body on Monday evening, and another body of a woman was found on Tuesday," Ngongo Chishibanji, a maritime officer in South Kivu, told Anadolu over the phone on Wednesday.

Three bodies were discovered on the same day as the incident, he added.

Noting that 10 people have been rescued thus far, Chishibanji said search efforts are still ongoing for approximately 35 people who are missing, "though the likelihood of finding survivors is hard by now."

A woman who only gave her name as Maombe told reporters that her hopes of finding her 23-year-old sibling, Alice, who was one of the passengers, has faded as time passed.

Water transport is common in DR Congo due to mostly impassable roads. The accident occurred hardly a month after 22 people died on Lake Mai-Ndombe.