{"id":285166,"date":"2025-04-18T21:09:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T21:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/18\/at-least-148-people-die-after-boat-catches-fire-in-congo\/"},"modified":"2025-04-18T21:09:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T21:09:13","slug":"at-least-148-people-die-after-boat-catches-fire-in-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/18\/at-least-148-people-die-after-boat-catches-fire-in-congo\/","title":{"rendered":"At least 148 people die after boat catches fire in Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"At<\/div>\n
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The number of people found dead after a boat accident in Congo has risen to 148, officials have said.<\/p>\n

They say hundreds are still missing after a motorised wooden boat caught fire and capsized on Tuesday in the Congo River.<\/p>\n

The number of dead had previously been estimated at 50.<\/p>\n

On Friday, senator Jean-Paul Boketsu Bofili of Equateur province said 500 people were on board, adding: “As we speak, more than 150 survivors suffering from third-degree burns are without humanitarian assistance.”<\/p>\n

The fire started as a woman was cooking on board the boat, said Competent Loyoko, the river commissioner.<\/p>\n

Several passengers, including women and children, died after jumping into the water without being able to swim, officials said.<\/p>\n

About 100 survivors were taken to an improvised shelter at the local town hall, while those with burn injuries were taken to local hospitals.<\/p>\n

The boat, called HB Kongolo, caught fire near the northwestern town of Mbandaka, having left the port of Matankumu for the Bolomba territory.<\/p>\n

Deadly boat accidents are common in the central African country, where late-night travels and overcrowded vessels are often blamed and authorities have struggled to enforce maritime regulations.<\/p>\n

The country’s rivers are a major means of transport for its more than 100 million people, especially in remote areas where infrastructure is poor.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.<\/em><\/p>\n

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app<\/strong><\/a>. <\/em>You can also <\/em>follow us on WhatsApp<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and subscribe to our <\/em>YouTube channel<\/strong><\/em><\/a> to keep up with the latest news.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The number of people found dead after a boat accident in Congo has risen to 148, officials have said. They say hundreds are still missing after a motorised wooden boat caught fire and capsized on Tuesday in the Congo River. The number of dead had previously been estimated at 50. On Friday, senator Jean-Paul Boketsu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/04\/1920x1080\/skynews-breaking-news-breaking_6875336.png?20250406142724","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16797,23412,38993,134,80,124],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285166"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285168,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285166\/revisions\/285168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}