At Least 50 De*d, Hundreds Missing After Boat Catches Fire And Capsizes

A boat capsized after catching fire in in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, resulting in at least 50 deaths.

Hundreds reportedly remain missing.

“The motorized wooden boat with about 400 passengers caught fire near the town of Mbandaka, Compétent Loyoko,” the Associated Press reports.

Boat catches fire, capsizes in Congo, leaving at least 50 people dead and hundreds missing: official https://t.co/5JibLdAdMu pic.twitter.com/zQuaxNDmLA

— New York Post (@nypost) April 16, 2025

From the Associated Press:

About 100 survivors were taken to an improvised shelter at the Mbandaka town hall. Those with burn injuries were taken to local hospitals.

The incident began while a woman was cooking on board, Loyoko said. Several passengers, including women and children, died after jumping into the water without being able to swim.

Deadly boat accidents are common in the central African country, where late-night travels and overcrowded vessels are often blamed. Authorities have struggled to enforce maritime regulations.

Congo’s rivers are a major means of transport for its more than 100 million people, especially in remote areas where infrastructure is poor or nonexistent.

Hundreds have been killed in boat accidents in recent years as more people abandon the few available roads for wooden vessels packed with passengers and their goods.

A boat caught fire in Congo and capsized, leaving at least 50 people dead and 100 missing, a local official told reporters. https://t.co/GG1v1gkSu0

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 16, 2025

A boat has capsized after catching fire in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, leaving at least 50 people dead and hundreds missing, a local official says. https://t.co/QRTu9iWiyN

— NBC News World (@NBCNewsWorld) April 18, 2025

Per Al Jazeera:

The search for the missing was under way on Wednesday with rescue teams supported by the Red Cross and provincial authorities, following the accident on the Congo River late Tuesday night.

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The motorised wooden boat with about 400 passengers caught fire near the town of Mbandaka, after having left the port of Matankumu for the Bolomba territory, Competent Loyoko, the river commissioner, told The Associated Press news agency.

The incident began while someone was cooking on board, Loyoko said.

Several passengers, including women and children, died after jumping into the water without being able to swim. About 100 survivors were taken to an improvised shelter at the Mbandaka town hall, many of them with bad burns.

Deadly boat accidents are common in the central African country, Al Jazeera’s Alain Uaykani said, reporting from Goma. He said rescue teams were often inexperienced and unequipped to manage emergencies.

Hundreds have been killed in boat accidents in recent years as more people abandon the few available roads for wooden vessels packed with passengers and their goods.

In December, at least 38 people died after a ferry carrying more than 400 people travelling for Christmas capsized on a river in the northeastern DRC.