By RFIPosted on 04-17-2019editing 17-04-2019 at 17:01

A Goma - Kalehe boat was shipwrecked on the night of April 15-16. The number of passengers is still unknown, but survivors say it was very overloaded.

The boat, a motorized wooden canoe, was traveling between Goma and Kalehe territory at the time of its sinking. According to the acting governor of South Kivu, Dolly Bizimungu, three bodies have since been rescued and some thirty survivors found.

A job for the moment entrusted to local fishermen, in the absence of a specialized rescue team on site. How many people were on board in total? An interim balance sheet released Tuesday evening by the Congolese presidency reported 150 missing, but it's hard to say, deplores the local deputy Vital Muhindo. The numbers are very difficult to verify, since the canoe did not have a manifest in due form.

" What do the maritime services " responsible for security, wonders the elected who calls for " a meticulous investigation " and more controls on shipping, while he said the canoe was " overloaded and without lifejackets ." Especially since these dramas are recurring on Lake Kivu .

There were first the strong winds that caused the wave, but also, the canoe was totally overloaded. In the same boat, there were tons of bags of cement. [...] We will ask our population not to embark on these canoes which are overloaded to prevent other similar incidents.

Delphin Mbirimbi, President of Kalehe Civil Society

17-04-2019 - By Michel Arseneault

On Tuesday, the head of state said he was saddened and promised that those responsible would be " identified and punished ", but that did not stop many indignant reactions. The opponent Moise Katumbi castigates " the irresponsibility of successive governments ", the citizen movement Lucha " the lack or obsolescence of infrastructure ", but also the " almost non-existence of relief services and corruption ." Others, finally, claim the urgent rehabilitation of the Goma-Bukavu road, in order to relieve traffic on Lake Kivu.

    On the same subject

    DRC: 50 dead in the sinking of a boat in the Northwest

    DRC: dramatic sinking on Ubangi River

    DRC: at least 14 missing after a shipwreck on the Congo River

    comments