At least 22 people have died after two boats collided on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sinking a passenger vessel carrying 163 people, provincial officials said. The Congo River boat collision happened near the town of Ngombe in Lukolela territory, western Equateur province, at around 2 a.m. local time on Saturday, October 3, and recovery efforts were still under way on Monday evening as dozens more were feared missing.
What happened in the Ngombe boat collision
Crispin Mputu, the provincial interior minister of Equateur, told Reuters that two vessels travelling on the river collided in the dark: one was a commercial boat operating between Kinshasa and Mbandaka, and the other was a passenger riverboat travelling from Mongala province to the capital, Kinshasa. The impact sank the passenger boat.
A security source told Reuters the sunken vessel had 163 passengers on board. Twenty-two bodies have been recovered and buried, while 59 people were rescued, Mputu said. He added that other victims might have been buried elsewhere, and that the wreckage remains submerged at a depth of 12 meters as recovery teams continued their work on Monday evening.
Death toll disputed: 22 or 30 dead
Accounts of the death toll differ. Mputu told Reuters the confirmed toll stood at 22, but he separately told The Associated Press that at least 30 people were killed and that the dead had already been buried. Al Jazeera reported that officials put the toll at 30, with dozens more missing and search-and-rescue operations ongoing.
Mputu told the state-owned Agence Congolaise Presse that a metal vessel named Dieu se cache was travelling from Kinshasa when it crashed into a wooden vessel called HB Super Victoire, which was coming from Businga. "Almost all the passengers on board were trapped underwater, and the boat itself also sank," he said. A security officer who witnessed the collision from the riverbank told the AP that the boat returning from Ubangi was overloaded with goods when it struck the one coming from Kinshasa.
Why Congo River accidents keep happening
The exact cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but Mputu noted that nighttime navigation has led to many accidents on the country's waterways. River transport is the main form of travel and trade in much of western Congo, where towns and cities sit along the Congo River — but accidents are common because vessels are often overcrowded and poorly maintained.
Deadly boating tragedies are a recurring crisis in the central African nation. In July, a wooden boat transporting students back from state exams sank while entering the confluence of the Sankuru and Kasai rivers in Kasai province, killing at least 20 people. Poor safety standards, late-night travel, overcrowded vessels and a lack of infrastructure in remote areas are repeatedly blamed.
Takeaway
Whether the final toll is 22 or 30, the Ngombe collision is another grim entry in DR Congo's long-running river safety crisis. With the wreck still 12 meters underwater and dozens unaccounted for, investigators will now have to answer why two vessels were navigating one of Africa's busiest waterways in darkness — and why, yet again, the country's river regulations failed to keep passengers safe.
🎥 Watch: Video report: dozens dead as two boats collide on the Congo River
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Sources: Reuters: At least 22 dead after two boats collide on Congo river · Al Jazeera: DR Congo boat collision kills at least 30, dozens missing · AP via ETV Bharat: Boat collision on Congo River killed at least 30