At least 50 dead after boat catches fire, capsizes in northwest DRC, Congolese officials say

|Published 1:00 PM ET, Friday April 18, 2025|

At least 50 people have died and hundreds are missing after a motorized wooden boat, the HB Kongolo, caught fire and capsized on the Congo River near Mbandaka in northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on the night of April 15, 2025.

The fire reportedly started when a woman was cooking on board. The vessel was carrying approximately 400 passengers traveling from Matankumu to Bolomba territory. Many passengers jumped into the river to escape the flames, but some were unable to swim and drowned. Around 100 survivors have been taken to a temporary shelter at the Mbandaka town hall, with several people hospitalized for burns. Rescue operations, supported by the Red Cross and local authorities, are ongoing to locate the missing.

Deadly boat accidents are frequent in the DRC due to overcrowded vessels and inadequate safety enforcement. River transport is essential for the country’s population of over 100 million, especially in remote areas with poor infrastructure. In recent years, hundreds have been killed in boat accidents as more people rely on wooden vessels packed with passengers and goods.