KINSHASA, Congo: A riverboat loaded with passengers and fuel drums caught fire and capsized in southern Congo, and 200 people were feared dead, a survivor said Sunday. A local official confirmed the boat had tipped but said the passenger manifest apparently vanished in the fire.
It would be the deadliest boat accident in the Central African nation this year, and among the worst in Africa this year.
Fabrice Muamba, who said he was on the boat when it caught fire Saturday night on the Kasai River, said he thought only 15 people were able to swim to safety. He said passengers began to jump overboard when the engine caught fire as it passed the remote village of Mbendayi, some 45 miles (70 kilometers) from the town of Tshikapa, which is north of Congo's border with Angola.
Boat owner Mwamba Mwati Nguma Leonard said a survivor and an employee called to tell him the boat caught fire when workers spilled fuel and ignited the engine.
"At the moment I am crying after learning my boat caught fire," Leonard said. "I was just told on phone that it was while seamen were putting fuel into the tank that an explosion occurred after the oil touched the vessel's battery." He said he has asked police to arrest the boat's managers as he believes they employed unskilled workers.
But he said he had no further details because he was in Congo's capital, Kinshasa, some 500 miles (800 kilometers) from the scene, and because his employees on the scene did not answer his calls Sunday.
Arab News
