At least 60 people are feared dead after an overloaded barge capsized on the Kasai river in western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), aid workers said Wednesday. The barge was reportedly heavily overloaded with passengers and goods at the time of the accident on Monday morning. Out of the estimated 100 people aboard, 40 managed to swim to safety, while 60 were still missing on Wednesday, a spokesperson of the Red Cross in Congolese capital Kinshasa told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa. The vast Congo has very poor infrastructure, and most transports of both people and goods are made using the main rivers. River barges in DRC are infamous for overcrowding and poor maintenance, and accidents are not uncommon. Reports said that the barge which capsized this week probably had technical problems in addition to being overloaded.
