Boat collision on the Congo River kills at least 30, dozens missing, officials say

Two boats collided over the weekend on the Congo River, killing at least 30 people and leaving dozens missing, local authorities in Congo said Monday.

The motorized wooden boats crashed into one another on Sunday evening near the Ngombe-Lukolela area in the province of Equateur, according to the provincial interior minister, Crispin Mputu.

The reason for the crash was not immediately clear. Mputu said nighttime boat navigation has led to many accidents in the past. The minister told The Associated Press that the 30 killed in the crash have already been buried.

One boat was traveling from Ubangi, in the northwest, to the capital of Kinshasa, and the other from Kinshasa to Lukolela, close to where the collision happened, Mputu said, and added that search efforts continue to find more victims and survivors.