47 dead, 100 missing in boat accident in Congo

A motorized boat sinks in northern Congo, killing at least 47 people and leaving around 100 missing.

A motorized boat sank in northern Congo, killing at least 47 people and leaving around 100 missing, officials said on Friday.

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Mathieu Modeste Bella, the district commissioner of North Ubangi province, said that the bodies of the victims had been recovered from the Ubangi River. Twenty-seven survivors were also helped to shore.

"The rest of the passengers, more than 100, have disappeared. We do not know what happened to them," he said.

Bella said the boat was carrying at least 182 passengers, mostly merchants but also women and children.

The boat went down on Tuesday night after it left the Congo town of Mobayi Bongo, located around 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) northeast of Congo's capital, Kinshasa. It was headed for the Central African Republic, which shares a border with Congo. Because of the bad shape of roads, many people prefer to take the small boats even if they do not know how to swim.