Overview
- Two motorised wooden boats collided near Ngombe-Lukolela in Equateur province, and local officials say at least 30 people died and dozens remain missing.
- Authorities told reporters the 30 confirmed dead were buried and search efforts for survivors and more victims are ongoing in the river area.
- The vessels were on established routes, one returning from Ubangi toward Kinshasa and the other heading from Kinshasa to Lukolela, close to where the crash occurred.
- An anonymous security-force witness said the boat returning from Ubangi appeared overloaded with goods and sank with many passengers trapped underwater, but officials have not reached a definitive cause.
- The crash fits a pattern in the Democratic Republic of Congo where night travel, overcrowded wooden boats, weak safety enforcement and poor infrastructure have driven repeated deadly river accidents, including a July sinking in Kasai that killed at least 20.