Rescue crews were searching for survivors on Monday after a large wooden canoe capsized on a lake in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 23 people, a spokesperson for the United Nations peacekeeping force said.
About 43 people survived the accident late on Sunday on Lake Kivu and were safe ashore. But an estimated 50 others were still missing, said Madnodje Mounoubai, a UN military spokesperson in the lakeside city of Bukavu.
Mounoubai said a large wave had toppled the motorised canoe, a customary, cheap form of transport on Lake Kivu, a choppy body of gray water that separates the DRC from neighboring Rwanda.
Didace Kaningini, deputy governor of South Kivu province, said the vessel was severely overloaded with people, bananas and manioc when it was headed north from the small village of Kalehe to Goma, capital of nearby the North Kivu province.
Kaningini had no specific death toll, but said initial reports indicated dozens of people had drowned.
”We don’t know the exact number of passengers because very often, the owner [of the boat] declares 20 or 30 passengers, but usually there are many more,” Kaningini said. – Sapa-AP