Not less than 78 people have died after a ferry capsized on Lake Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, just a few hundred metres from its destination.
According to Reuters, a regional governor, Jean Jacques Purisi said the boat was travelling from the town of Minova in South Kivu and sank as it arrived on Goma’s shore on Thursday morning.
There were 278 passengers onboard when the tragic incident occurred.
A online video shows the boat tilting to one side and then sinking.
Governor Jean Jacques Purisi said, “It’ll take at least three days to get the exact numbers because not all the bodies have been found yet.”
A local activist, Aaron Ashuza, who was at the scene, said he saw bodies being pulled out of the river and said the injured had been taken to hospital.
At least two children died after they were taken to hospital after the accident.
Speaking from his hospital bed, 51-year-old survivor Alfani Buroko Byamungu told Reuters that conditions on the water seemed “calm.”
He added: “I saw people sinking, many went under. I saw women and children sinking in the water, and I was on the verge of drowning, but God helped me.”
Bahati Selemani, a dock worker who participated in the rescue effort, described what happened.
“We saw the boat start to capsize. We noticed that the boat was very overloaded and there were also strong waves.
“After that, the boat started to capsize little by little. Those who were upstairs started to throw themselves into the lake, and the boat capsized directly into the lake,” he said.
