Survivors who swam to safety after their overcrowded boat capsized over the weekend said nearby fishermen refused to help drowning passengers in the dark of night, instead looting the goods aboard the burning vessel and beating people with oars.
At least 200 people are feared dead from the disaster in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), one of two deadly boat accidents on Saturday that highlighted the dangers of travel in a country that was ravaged by back-to-back civil wars.
Officials say 70 other people died in another weekend accident in the country’s northwest.
Romaine Mishondo, who survived the fiery boat sinking in southern DR Congo, said late on Sunday that the vessel was so crowded it reminded her of “a whole market in the village full of people.’’
The boat had stopped to pick up even more people just 10 minutes before a fire broke out, she said.
As people began jumping overboard, nearby fishermen ignored the passengers’ pleas for help.
“Fishermen attacked the boat and started beating passengers with paddles as they were [trying] to loot goods,” she said. “The fishermen refused to save passengers, instead taking goods into their [boats] … I survived because I hung onto a jerry can until another vessel passed by the scene and rescued us.’’
Francois Madila, an official from the navigation department in the province, said police arrested two crew members and are investigating the capsizing, which took place near the border with Angola.
Early on Saturday, a boat on a river in northwest Equateur Province hit a rock and capsized, provincial spokeswoman Ebale Engumba said on Sunday.
She said more than 70 people are believed dead among 100 estimated passengers and officials are investigating why the boat was traveling in the dark with no lights.
The second boat sinking in Kasai Occidental Province left 200 people feared dead.
The boats that ply their trade on Congo’s rivers are often in poor repair and filled beyond capacity. The industry is not well-regulated and boat operators are known to fill boats to dangerous levels.
In the first incident in northwest Congo, Engumba said officials think the boat’s lack of lighting was responsible.
“We are going to arrest people involved who are in charge of regulating the boat’s movement who failed to stop that boat from traveling at night,” she said.
In the second incident, survivors said the boat was overloaded with people and goods.
Fabrice Muamba, who said he was on the boat when it caught fire on Saturday night on the Kasai River, said passengers began to jump overboard when the engine caught fire as it passed the remote village of Mbendayi, about 70km from the town of Tshikapa, which is north of the border with Angola.
Boat owner Mwamba Mwati Nguma Leonard said a survivor and an employee called to tell him the boat caught fire when workers spilled fuel and ignited the engine.
“At the moment, I am crying after learning my boat caught fire,” Leonard said. “I was just told on the phone that it was while seamen were putting fuel into the tank that an explosion occurred after the oil touched the vessel’s battery.”
He said he has asked police to arrest the boat’s managers as he believes they employed unskilled workers.
However, Leonard said he had no further details because he was in the capital Kinshasa, about 800km from the scene.
He also confirmed Muamba’s account that the boat was carrying many drums full of fuel and sacks of maize. He said he did not know how many people were aboard.
Madila said the sailors have not said how many people were aboard and that the passenger list appeared to have been destroyed in the fire.
Other officials and witnesses in the remote area could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
The incident is the deadliest of several boating incidents reported this year in DR Congo.
In July, officials said at least 80 people died when a boat ferrying about 200 passengers to Kinshasha capsized after hitting a rock.
In May, dozens of people died when an overloaded canoe capsized on an eastern river and last November, at least 90 people were killed after a logging boat, which was not supposed to be carrying passengers, sank on a lake.
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