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Troops of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) have rescued 133 people from a sinking boat on the River Congo, UN News reported on Tuesday.
The accident occurred on Saturday near Maita in the western province of Equateur. All but 50 of the people rescued, who preferred to remain with their belongings, were taken to Mbandaka, the main town in the province 56 km from Maita.
UN news said seven people suffering from lumbago and malaria were admitted to Mbandaka Hospital.
The barge had left the nation's capital, Kinshasa, for the city of Kisangani, some 1,700 km to the northeast along the river.
This was the third riverboat accident since January. In the last accident, on 16 January, MONUC rescued some 280 people from a burning boat near the village of Lukolela, 150 km southwest of Mbandaka. That boat had been carrying some 500 people from Makoti Mpoko, in the Republic of Congo.
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