At least 78 people died when an overcrowded boat with 278 passengers capsized on Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a governor has said.
Jean-Jacques Purusi, governor of the South Kivu province, said the death toll was provisional and the number of fatalities could rise.
The boat, overloaded with passengers, sank while trying to dock just metres from the port of Kituku, according to witnesses. It was going from Minova in South Kivu province to Goma in North Kivu province.
It was the latest deadly boat accident in the central African country, including one this summer when an overloaded boat sank near the capital and 80 passengers died.
“I was at the port of Kituku when I saw the boat arriving from Minova, full of passengers,” Francine Munyi told the AP. “It started to lose its balance and sank into the lake. Some people threw themselves into the water.”
She added: “Many died, and few were saved. I couldn’t help them because I don’t know how to swim.”
The victims’ families and Goma residents gathered at the port of Kituku, accusing authorities of negligence in the face of growing insecurity in the region.
Since the fighting between the armed forces and the M23 rebels made the road between the cities of Goma and Minova impassable, forcing the closure of the passage to trucks transporting food, many traders have resorted to maritime transport on Lake Kivu.
But according to Elia Asumani, a shipping agent who works on this line, the situation has become dangerous.
“We are afraid,” he told the AP. “This shipwreck was predictable.”
Bienfait Sematumba, 27, said he lost four family members.
“They are all dead. I am alone now,” he said, sobbing. “If the authorities had ended the war, this shipwreck would never have happened.”
The survivors, about 10 of them, were taken to Kyeshero hospital for treatment. One of them, Neema Chimanga, said she was still in shock.
“We saw the boat start to fill with water half way,” she recounted to the AP. “The door of the boat opened, and we tried to close it. But the water was already coming in, and the boat tilted.”
“I threw myself into the water and started swimming,” she said. “I don’t know how I got out of the water.”