3/10/2024, Goma, Congo. At least 78 people drowned when a boat carrying 278 passengers capsized on Lake Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, the provincial governor said.

Relatives on the shore watched in tears as the victims were bagged and taken away, a witness told Reuters. The multi-story ship was initially pitching on its side until it overturned.

It is unclear how many people are still missing, with local officials giving varying death tolls. The governor of Kivu province announced that 78 people had died and there were around 278 people on board. The high number of victims is also due to the fact that in developing countries such as the Congo, a large part of the population does not know how to swim.

“It will take at least three days before we know the exact numbers because not all the bodies have been found yet,” Governor Jean Jacques Purisi told Reuters. The cause of the sinking of the ship was its extreme overload, ships of a similar size have a capacity of approximately 30-50 passengers.