50 feared dead in DRC boat mishap

Tragedy struck in the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), when a boat capsized in the Mombovo River, killing no less than 50 people on board.

According to local officials, the boat which was transporting passengers and goods from Monkoto to Mbadanka capsized with search and rescue missions under way as authorities look for survivors after the incident.

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“We found 49 bodies on Thursday and another one this morning,” Tshuapa Vice-Governor Richard Mboyo Iluka was quoted as saying.

The incident comes as there is panic at the river port city of Mbandaka in the DRC after two dying Ebola patients were spirited out of a hospital by their relatives on motor-bikes, then taken to a church for prayers.

According to Dr. Jean-Clement Cabrol, emergency medical coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), both patients who were vomiting died hours after the prayer session with 50 other people, potentially exposing them all to the deadly virus.

 

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