Kinhasa: More than 100 people are believed to die or disappear in the sink of an emergency ship on the Congo River, the provincial authority in the Democratic Republic of the Congo said on Saturday.
Fifty-one bodies have been found at the end of Friday from Monday to Tuesday, and 69 others are believed to be lost, Nestor Magbado, spokesman for Northwestern Province Governor Mongala, told AFP.
He said there were 39 victims.
Without manifest from passengers on board, the lost amount is an estimate based on the capacity of the ship, he said.
The ship was actually nine traditional wooden canoes, known as the pyrogues, all bound together, said Magbado.
He added that the accident might be caused by “density compounded by bad weather” at night.
The scale of the accident was unclear until reported by the media at the end of Friday, and was confirmed on Saturday by the Provincial Authority.
Magbado said the Mongala authority had told Kinshasa from the sinking after it happened, but had been waiting for more information about the number of victims.
The search and rescue operation continued, but the hope of fading finding more victims, he said.
Provincial authorities have stated three mourning days from Monday.