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Seven people died on Saturday in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) when a ferry collided with another boat on Lake Kivu, an official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told IRIN on Monday.
The accident occurred close to the port of Goma when a state-owned cargo vessel collided with the passenger ferry, causing it to capsize.
Approximately 70 people were on board the ferry, which plies the route between the eastern towns of Goma and Bukavu, when the accident occurred at 1700 local time (1500 GMT), ICRC Information Officer Anna Schaaf said. An estimated 50 people swam to the shore, she added.
The cause of the accident and the number of survivors has not been determined but the office of the DRC's prosecutor-general has begun investigations into the incident. Two people are being held for questioning.
Other boat accidents have occurred in the DRC. In October 2003, an overloaded ferry capsized on Lake Kivu in poor weather conditions off the coast of Rwanda's southwestern province of Kibuye, killing 13 people.
On 3 February 2004, 301 people were hospitalised after an explosion caused a ferry crossing the River Congo, in the northwest province of Equateur, to catch fire. One person died and another was critically wounded.
In November 2002, a ferry sank on Lake Mai-Ndombe, in Bandundu Province, drowning an estimated 200 people.
Friday's accident was the third ferry accident in the country since 2003.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions