DRC: Eight killed in collision between boat & canoe on lake Kivu

Eight people were found dead Tuesday in South Kivu province, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after their canoe collided with a boat on lake Kivu in the same province.

Mathieu Alimasi Malumbi, the provincial transport minister in a statement to reporters indicated that victims were four women and four men.

Their bodies were found three days after the collision occurred, he added. He also indicated their canoe was struck by a passenger boat, at Bukavu port, in the provincial capital.

Four of the victims were Rwandans per documents found on them. Some 48 other people were saves in the waters. The boat named Emmanuel 3 was carrying more than 100 passengers and provides ferry service between Bukavu and Goma. Boat accidents are common in Congo’s lakes and rivers due to overloading. Last October, 27 people died when a boat capsized in the Congo River.

Around 100 people were reportedly killed in 2019 in the South Kivu province after their boat capsized.