At least 143 people have died and dozens remain missing after a fuel-laden boat caught fire and capsized on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials confirmed on Friday.
The tragic incident occurred on Tuesday near Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur Province, at the junction of the Ruki and Congo rivers. According to Josephine-Pacifique Lokumu, a regional representative in the national assembly, the wooden vessel was overcrowded with hundreds of passengers when a fire broke out on board.
“A first group of 131 bodies was recovered on Wednesday, followed by 12 more on Thursday and Friday. Many were badly burned,” Lokumu told AFP.
Joseph Lokondo, a local civil society leader who took part in the burials, estimated the provisional death toll at 145, with victims either burned or drowned. He added that some survivors had been taken to hospital for treatment.
The fire reportedly began when a woman lit a cooking fire on the boat, which then ignited nearby fuel containers. “The flames spread quickly, killing many women and children,” Lokumu explained.
Videos shared on social media showed a long boat engulfed in flames far from shore, with thick smoke rising from the wreckage as people in smaller boats watched helplessly.
The exact number of passengers remains unclear, but officials say the boat was carrying several hundred people. As of Friday, many families were still searching for news of missing loved ones.
In a country spanning 2.3 million square kilometres, where poor infrastructure limits access to many regions, rivers are a vital means of transport. However, boat accidents are common due to overcrowding, lack of safety regulations, and the absence of proper passenger lists, which hampers rescue efforts.
Similar tragedies have struck the DRC in recent years. In October 2023, at least 47 people died in a boat accident on the Congo River in the same province. Another incident that month claimed more than 20 lives when a boat capsized on Lake Kivu, while around 100 people died in a similar disaster on the same lake in 2019.
