At least 58 people have been killed after an overloaded riverboat capsized in the Central Africa Republic’s capital, a media report said on Sunday.
Reuters quoted civil protection department head Thomas Djimasse as saying: “We were alerted 40 minutes after the incident and rescuers were able to extract around 50 lifeless bodies.”
He said a search was continuing with more people possibly drowned in the Mpoko River in Bangui.
According to witnesses and videos on social media, the boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on Friday.
The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief but got into difficulty shortly after setting off from the pier.
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