Officials in Equateur province in the Democratic Republic of Congo found an additional 10 bodies from a boat accident that occurred on Sunday. This brings the total number of people who died to 54.
The health and humanitarian affairs minister for the province, Luc-Didier Mbula, also mentioned that 267 people were saved.
Officials think that approximately 50 people are still unaccounted for, but they couldn’t find the list of passengers because the person who owned the boat also died.
The accident occurred early on Sunday when a wooden boat sank in the Lulanga River in the western part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This is the second very bad boat crash to happen in the country this month.
On 13 October, a boat made of wood sunk at the port of Mbandaka in the capital of Equateur. This caused 63 people to die and over 100 are still missing.
The Transport Minister, Mark Ekila, announced that there have been 88 boat accidents just this year. 80% of these accidents happened because the boats were either old wood boats or because they were sailing at night, which is against the rules.
The government said it is going to make stricter rules. This includes not letting old ships be used and keeping people separate from cargo and pets while they travel.
DR Congo is very big and has bad transportation, so most people have to travel in old and unsafe boats.
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At least 50 people have died in DR Congo boat disaster
