DRC: at least 100 dead in a shipwreck in Basankusu, in the province of Equateur
Location of Basankusu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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Text by: RFI Follow
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In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), at least a hundred people died in the sinking of a convoy of makeshift canoes, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday January 18, in the Lulonga River, a tributary of the Congo River, more than 200 km from the city of Mbandaka, capital of the province of Equateur.
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The balance sheet of civil society has not yet been confirmed by the authorities who claim to have fished out only a dozen dead bodies.
However, they assure that there are many missing.
Search operations on the river were launched on Friday, January 20, in this area without telephone coverage.
An elected official nevertheless denounces serious shortcomings of governance in the river transport sector, in the country, while tragedies are recurrent.
“
Concrete measures must be taken to prevent these boats from being able to sail on the river.
But these people who go there, it's not with a light heart, it's for reasons of survival.
It's a dilemma
, ”MP Sam Bokolombe, elected from Basankusu, told RFI.
These people embarked without a manifesto, they embarked at the port of Basankusu.
They embarked again 38 km downstream from the port of Basankusu, in Bokakata.
We do not know the number of passengers...
Sam Bokolombe, elected deputy of Basankusu, territory where the tragedy took place.
Pascal Mulegwa
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