38 people are dead and over 100 remain missing in Congo after a ferry capsizes in the river Busira

KINSHASA, Congo -- Thirty-eight people are confirmed dead, and over 100 remain missing in Congro after an overloaded ferry — full of people returning home for Christmas — capsized in the river Burisa late Friday night, according to local officials and eyewitnesses.

Twenty people are confirmed to have been rescued so far.

The boat was traveling in the northeast of the Congo as part of a convoy of other vessels, and the passengers were primarily merchants returning home for Christmas, said Joseph Joseph Kangolingoli, the mayor of Ingende, the last town before the site of the accident.

The capsizing occurred less than four days after another boat in the northeast of the country capsized, killing 25.

According to Ndolo Kaddy, a resident of Ingende, the ferry contained “more than 400 people because it made two ports, Ingende and Loolo, on the way to Boende, so there is reason to believe that there were more deaths.”

Congolese officials have often warned against overloading and vowed to punish those violating safety measures for water transportation. However, in remote areas where most passengers come from, many cannot afford public transport for the few available roads.

At least 78 people drowned in October when an overloaded boat sank in the country’s east while 80 lost their lives in a similar accident near Kinshasa in June.