20100906
reuters

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Dozens are feared to have died when two boats capsized in two separate incidents in recent days in Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities in the central African country said on Monday.

One boat sank in the Ruki river in Equateur province in the north of Congo, and another in Kasai-Occidental province, close to the border with Angola.

"The (Kasai-Occidental) accident was caused by fire. The manifest gives 39 names but in reality there were more. We are waiting for the navy to give us the death toll," said Djalo Meba, a regional official for the town of Tshikapa, around 60 km from where the accident happened on Saturday.

"There were 17 deaths on the river Ruki in Equateur, and others who are missing," said Richard Ilunga, an official at the interior ministry, who said the boat sank between Thursday night and Friday morning.

Decades of conflict and neglect have left the nation's infrastructure in tatters, meaning travel by air and river are often the best or only option for Congolese.

Accidents are frequent and often blamed on overloading. It was not immediately possible to establish exact death tolls in the latest accidents.

Up to 138 people died when a boat sank in a stretch of the Congo River in the western Bandundu province, east of Kinshasa, police said in July, and at least 73 people were killed when a boat carrying logs and illegal passengers sank on a lake in Bandundu last November.