Intro
It was a sad day in a part of DR Congo after seven people were confirmed dead after a transport boat sank after hitting rocks on a lake in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo over the weekend.
The local minister of transport and communication in South Kivu province, Claude Swedy Basila confirmed in a statement that the total number of deaths at seven.
The private boat, carrying 110 passengers, mainly traders, was travelling to the island of Idjwi when it struck a rock Saturday before capsizing.
Saturday’s disaster involved a “baleiniere” or “whaler” — a commonly-used flat-bottomed vessel resembling a motorised canoe 15 to 30 metres (50 to 100 feet) long by two to six metres wide.