Two vessels crashed while navigating the Congo River in Equateur province at night.

A boat collision on a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 30 people, with dozens more reported missing.

Two vessels crashed into one another as they navigated the Congo river, officials said on Monday. The accident took place on Sunday evening near the Ngombe-Lukolela area in Equateur province in the northwest of the country.

The officials said that 30 people had drowned during the incident. Search-and-rescue efforts have been launched to try to find the missing.

Crispin Mputu, interior minister of Equateur province, told the state-owned news agency Agence Congolaise Presse that “a metal vessel named ‘Dieu se cache,’ was coming from Kinshasa,” the country’s capital, when it crashed with a “wooden vessel called ‘HB Super Victoire,’ [that] was coming from Businga”.

“Almost all the passengers on board were trapped underwater, and the boat itself also sank,” he added.

Mputu said the people who drowned have already been buried.

Safety standards

It is unclear what caused the crash. Mputu noted that many accidents have occurred as boats travel at night.

A security officer who witnessed the incident told The Associated Press news agency that the boat travelling from Kinshasa was overloaded with goods.

Boating tragedies are common in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where late-night travel and overcrowded vessels are often blamed.

Poor safety standards and a lack of infrastructure in remote parts of the country also contribute to boating disasters, which have killed hundreds of people in recent years.

In July, a wooden boat transporting students back from state exams sank, killing at least 20 people in the country’s Kasai province.