Boat capsizes on Lake Tanganyika, killing at least 41
At least 41 people died after a boat traveling from Tanzania to Congo capsized on Lake Tanganyika; 49 were rescued and a search is ongoing.
A boat traveling from Tanzania to the Democratic Republic of Congo capsized on Lake Tanganyika on Thursday, killing at least 41 people, according to local authorities.
The vessel was carrying roughly 100 passengers along with cargo when it went down near Mapera village, said Norris Mulongoyi, the provincial transport minister for Tanganyika province. He said 49 people had been rescued and that a search was still under way for the remaining passengers.
The boat had set out from Kigoma in Tanzania and was bound for Kalemie, a city in Congo's Tanganyika province.
The cause of the capsizing was not immediately known. Boat disasters have claimed hundreds of lives in Congo in recent years, with vessels frequently overloaded and short of life jackets.
Lake Tanganyika, which lies along Congo's eastern border, is the world's largest freshwater lake by volume and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal.
For Congo's more than 100 million people, rivers and lakes serve as a primary means of transport, particularly in remote areas where road and rail infrastructure is poor or absent.