Rescuers are looking for 167 people who are currently missing since their boat tipped over in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, according to officials.
Over 40 dead bodies were found and 189 people were saved after the boat sank in the Congo River.
A group helping with rescues and recoveries said that the boat had too many people (more than 300 passengers) and things on it.
In DR Congo, people often use boats for transportation because there aren’t many roads.
However, many accidents happen on boats because they are carrying too many people, not being properly taken care of, and traveling when it is dark outside.
Many passengers also do not use life jackets.
Authorities say that the boat was sailing at night without following the safety rules.
Moise Katumbi, a well-known opposition leader in DR Congo and a candidate in the upcoming presidential election in December, expressed his sadness about “this tragic event”.
He said it was because the government allows old and overloaded boats to travel at night.
The local government in Equateur, where the accident occurred, will help children who were hurt in the accident and lost their parents by offering them emotional help.
The radio station said that they found over 40 bodies up until now, but the local civil society organization, Conscious Generation, claimed that the actual number was 50.
A person who lived through this accident told the radio that the boat, which had left Mbandaka city for Bolomba area in the Equateur province, stopped and became unsteady because there were too many people on it.
The boat turned over and sank while the crew tried to fix its balance, said the one person who survived.
On Sunday, the second-in-command of Equateur province gave out bags and boxes to put dead bodies in for some of the burials.
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167 people still missing after boat in DR Congo collapsed
