CONGO: At least 163 people drowned and scores went missing when two ferries collided during a storm on a lake in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the government said yesterday.
A helicopter searched for more survivors after 222 people escaped from the accident which happened on Tuesday, involving vessels carrying 450-500 people.
"It was two boats that collided due to a strong storm," Catherine Nzuzi wa Mbombo, minister of humanitarian affairs, told Reuters. "The latest information we received at 8.30 a.m. this morning is that we're talking about 163 dead - that's bodies found," she said.
The disaster happened on Lake Mai-Ndombe, which means "black water", when the boats laden with fish, cocoa and maize collided about 20 km outside the lakeside settlement of Inongo, according to a resident.
"I've seen over a hundred bodies coming in today," said Jacques Mpongo, a trader in the town. "The burials will take place tomorrow."
He said the two boats were built of wood and were in relatively poor condition, a common feature of ferries and other forms of transport in a country wracked by five years of civil war and decades of misrule.
Both vessels bore the name Dieu Merci, which means "Thank God," Mpongo said.
Ferry accidents are relatively frequent in Congo, where water transport is often the only way to travel between towns separated by vast distances and lacking good roads. Boats are often overloaded and have little or no safety gear.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) sent a helicopter to sweep the lake, which covers 2,300 sq km but doubles or triples in size during the rainy season, currently lashing western Congo with downpours.
"We have a doctor on site flying over the lake determining if there are any more casualties or other boats in trouble," said Alain Decoux, head of mission for MSF-Belgium in the capital Kinshasa.
Heavy rain also contributed to a train disaster on Wednesday. Eleven people disappeared when a train hit a landslide and plunged into a river outside the western town of Matadi.