On 15 February 2021, a ship sank in the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

Mai-Ndombe province Mai-Ndombe is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Mai-Ndombe, Kwango, and Kwilu provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Bandundu province. Mai-Ndombe was ...

, near

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

killing at least 60 people.

Events

An overloaded whaling boat sank at around 20:00 local time near the village of Longola Ekoti in the province of Mai-Ndombe. The boat was travelling 700 km along the Congo River, from Kinshasa to Mbandaka City, and had over 700 people were onboard. Only 300 people survived, while 60 were killed and the remaining passengers were unaccounted for. Minister for Humanitarian Actions Steve Mbikayi Mabuluki told

Al-Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

that the primary reason for the incident was that the vessel had too many passengers and too much cargo onboard. He told the media that "night navigation also played a role” – something that is prohibited in the

DRC The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. Meanwhile, according to locals, the boat hit a rock. In the days that followed, Mbikayi offered condolences to the families affected while also calling for sanctions against the transport companies involved. President

Félix Tshisekedi Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (; born 13 June 1963) is a Congolese politician who has been the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 24 January 2019. He is the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) ...

subsequently announced that life jackets were mandatory for all passengers. The event coincided with the appointment of the new

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge (born 4 August 1977) is a Congolese politician from the former Katanga Province who has occupied the role of Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 15 February 2021. He was named the day of th ...

References

2021 disasters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2021 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2021 disaster Disasters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo February 2021 events in Africa Mai-Ndombe Province Shipwrecks of Africa {{Disaster-stub