Two Boats Capsize in Congo Killing 270 People

Two boats capsized in unrelated incidents in the rivers of the Congo killing an estimated 270 people.

A woman gives a bath to her son on the shores of the Lake Tanganyika. Location of an earlier boat accident where thirteen people were killed, and dozens remain missing, after an overloaded barge sank. Jose Cendon/AFP/Getty Images

Two boats capsized in unrelated incidents in the rivers of the Congo killing an estimated 270 people.

In the early hours of Saturday morning a boat loaded with 100 passengers en route towards northwest Equateur province capsized after slamming into a rock. About 70 of the people on board are believed dead. According to local officials, the lack of lighting caused the incident, AP reported.

In another unrelated accident, a vessel in Kasai Occidental province in the southern part of Congo was overloaded with passengers, caught fire and capsized. Approximately 200 people are believed to have drowned.

According to survivors, local fishermen ignored passengers’ cries for help and attacked the capsized boat for the goods. The crew of the boat was arrested but they refused to reveal the real number of passengers.

The Congo has experienced series of boat accidents recently. In July, a boat capsized near Congo’s capital, killing 80 people. In May, an overloaded canoe in eastern Congo took the life of dozens and last November 90 people drowned after a boat sank in a lake.

In Congo many people prefer to travel by boat, which are often old and in ill repair. They are also overloaded and not properly secured.