At Least 25 Dead, Mostly Soccer Players, After Boat Capsizes in Southwestern Congo- wna24

Congo: At least 25 people were killed after a boat capsized in southwestern Congo on Monday. Many of them were soccer players, authorities said. As per reports, majority of those onboard the boat were returning from a match in Mushie city in Maï-Ndombe province on Sunday night. The vessel capsized on the Kwa River.

Alexis Mputu, a provincial spokesperson suggested that the poor visibility at night may have been a factor. At least 30 other people survived, said Renacle Kwatiba, the local administrator of Mushie territory.

Deadly boat accidents are common in the central African country, where late-night travels and overcrowded vessels are often blamed. Authorities have struggled to enforce maritime regulations.

Congo’s rivers are a major means of transport for its more than 100 million people, especially in remote areas where infrastructure is poor or nonexistent.

Hundreds have been killed in boat accidents in recent years as more people abandon the few available roads for wooden vessels packed with passengers and their goods.

In another incident a couple of days ago, at least two people died and 186 others went missing after four boats carrying migrants from Africa capsized overnight in waters off Yemen and Djibouti, UN’s migration agency said on Friday, March 7.

Two vessels capsized off Yemen late Thursday, said Tamim Eleian, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration, or IOM. Two crewmembers were rescued, but 181 migrants and five Yemeni crewmembers remain missing, he told The Associated Press.

Two other boats capsized off the tiny African nation of Djibouti around the same time, he said. Two bodies of migrants were recovered, and all others on board were rescued.

Strong winds caused the two boats to capsize near the beach in Djibouti after they started sailing off, Abdusattor Esoev, head of the IOM mission in Yemen, told AP.

The third boat, which capsized off Dhubab district in Taiz governorate, southwestern Yemen, was carrying 31 Ethiopian migrants and three Yemeni crew.

The fourth boat, which capsized near the same area, was heading to Ahwar district in Abyan governorate and carried 150 Ethiopian migrants and four Yemeni crew.

Yemen is a major route for migrants from East Africa and the Horn of Africa trying to reach Gulf countries for work, with hundreds of thousands attempting the route each year. To reach Yemen, migrants are taken by smugglers on often dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden.