Congo lake accident: At least 30 people dead and hundreds missing after boat sinks

Mayor warns death toll is 'still provisional' as location of many passengers unknown

Many Congolese people use lakes and rivers to travel to parts of the country that are not connected by roads (Getty Images)

At least 30 people have died and another 200 are missing after a boat sank on a lake in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to local authorities.

Simon Mboo Wemba, the mayor of Inongo, told reporters on Sunday that many of those on the boat were teachers.

“So far, we have recovered 30 bodies: 12 women, 11 children and seven men,” he said.

However, he added that the toll was “still provisional”.

The accident happened late on Saturday at Lake Mai-Ndombe in the west of the country, near the village of Lokanga, according to Al Jazeera.

The mayor said those on board had been travelling by boat to collect their salaries because roads in the region were so poor.

It was not immediately known how many people were on board at the time of the accident.

Officials estimated several hundred people were on the boat and more than 80 people have survived.

Boats in DRC are often overloaded with passengers and cargo, according to the Associated Press, and official manifests do not tend to include all passengers on board.

Boat accidents are also common in the country, where many use rivers and lakes to travel to areas that are not connected by roads.

In April, after at least 167 people died in two accidents on Lake Kivu, President Felix Tshisekedi made it mandatory for boat passengers to have lifebuoys on the lake, Al Jazeera reported.

Last September, at least 27 people drowned when a vessel capsized on a tributary of the Congo River and at least 50 people died in a boat accident in May, according to local reports.

Agencies contributed to this report