60 killed in DR Congo shipwreck

At least 60 people were killed after a boat sank on the Congo River overnight from Sunday to Monday in the province of Mai-Ndombe in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), according to the Congolese Minister of Humanitarian Actions Steve Mbikayi.

"So far the rescue team has already recovered 60 dead bodies, and 300 survivors. There are still several missing after this sinking," said the minister, reported Xinhua.

According to him, there were more than 700 people aboard the boat heading to the province of Equateur from Kinshasa. The sinking took place in the village of Longola Ekoti in the province of Mai-Ndombe, a few kilometers from Kinshasa.

The main cause of the sinking remains the overload of goods and excess number of passengers in the boat, the minister said, adding that night navigation also played a role in the sinking.

Shipwrecks are frequent across the DR Congo, especially on the Congo River, where overloads and poor conditions of boats are causes of most accidents.