A boat carrying over 150 passengers capsized on Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday. At least 50 bodies have been recovered, with more feared dead. Overcrowding and a lack of maritime regulations are being blamed for the tragedy as per now. And details flow as;
A ferry carrying scores of passengers from Minova to Goma on Lake Kivu capsized just meters from the port, killing at least 50 people. Witnesses say the boat was severely overloaded, carrying over double its capacity and according to the video making rounds on social media, the ferry was really full.
Rescue efforts are ongoing, but hopes of finding more survivors are dwindling. This isn’t the first time Lake Kivu has seen such a disaster; a similar incident in February claimed the lives of nearly 50 people.
Sadly, these types of accidents are all too common in the DRC, where overcrowding on vessels is a recurring issue and maritime regulations are often ignored. And questions are many on when will stability prevail so that people’s lives are finally saved.
Just this year, similar tragedies on other lakes have claimed dozens of lives. While officials have vowed to crack down on unsafe practices, many locals in remote areas are forced to rely on these overcrowded boats due to a lack of affordable transportation options.
The fighting between the armed forces and the M23 rebels has made road travel dangerous, further increasing reliance on the lake. This latest tragedy has sparked outrage among locals, who accuse authorities of negligence and failing to address the underlying issues that contribute to these accidents.
One witness, who lost four family members in the capsizing, said, “If the authorities had ended the war, this shipwreck would never have happened.”
