Congo Ferry Sinks

Congo Ferry Sinks

A boat ferrying about 200 passengers to Congo’s capital capsized after hitting a mud bank. At least 80 people were confirmed dead and as many as 60 more passengers were missing and feared dead. The boat, the HB Yedu, was heading to the capital, Kinshasa, from the Kwilu district on the Kasai River, a tributary of the Congo River. It was overloaded and sank about 74 miles east of Kinshasa. The river was unusually low at the time the boat ran aground.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, a vast Central African country of jungles and huge rivers, has little more than 300 miles of paved road and few rails. Many people prefer to take boats even if they cannot swim. The boats are often in poor repair, filled beyond capacity, and lack basic safety equipment. In May, dozens of people died when an overloaded canoe capsized on a river in eastern Congo. In November, at least 90 people were killed after a logging boat sank on Lake Mai-Ndombe in Bandundu Province. The timber-carrying vessel, which was not supposed to be carrying passengers, went down in bad weather. In September 2009, more than 250 people died in three boat accidents on Congo waterways.