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KINSHASA, Congo: Two separate boat accidents this week in northwestern Congo killed at least 193 people dead and left scores missing, authorities and state media reported Friday
The accidents happened on Wednesday and Thursday, about 150 kilometers apart in the Equateur province.
One boat with nearly 500 passengers caught fire and capsized Thursday evening along the Congo River in the province’s Lukolela territory, Congo’s humanitarian affairs ministry said in a report. The report said 209 survivors were rescued following the accident, involving a whaleboat near the village of Malange in Lukolela territory.
A day earlier, a motorized boat capsized in the Basankusu territory of the province, killing at least 86 people, most of them students, state media reported. Several people were missing, but the reports did not give a figure of how many.
It was not immediately clear what caused either accident or whether rescue operations were continuing Friday evening.
State media attributed Wednesday’s accident to “improper loading and night navigation,” citing reports from the scene. Images that appeared to be from the scene showed villagers gathered around bodies as they mourned.
A local civil society group blamed Wednesday’s accident on the government and claimed the toll was higher. Authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.
The capsizing of boats is becoming increasingly frequent in this central African nation as more people are abandoning the few available roads for cheaper, wooden vessels crumbling under the weight of passengers and their goods.
In such trips, life jackets are rare and the vessels are usually overloaded.
Many of the boats also travel at night, complicating rescue efforts during accidents and leaving many bodies often unaccounted for.

NEW ZEALAND: Thousands took part in a pro-Palestinian march in Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, on Saturday, in what organizers said was the largest rally of its kind since the war in Gaza began between Israel and Hamas.
Some 50,000 attended the March for Humanity rally in central Auckland on Saturday morning, the Aotearoa for Palestine group said. 
New Zealand police estimated the attendance at 20,000.
Aotearoa for Palestine spokesperson Arama Rata said it was New Zealand’s largest march in support of Palestinians since the conflict broke out in Gaza, when Israel started an offensive in retaliation for a cross-border attack that killed about 1,200 people in October 2023.

Palestinian authorities have said that more than 64,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Gaza, while humanitarian organizations say a shortage of food is leading to widespread starvation.
Many in Saturday’s protest crowd carried Palestinian flags and banners with slogans including “Don’t normalize genocide” and “Grow a spine, stand with Palestine,” public broadcaster Radio New Zealand reported.
Organizers, motivated by a march that shut down Sydney’s iconic Harbor Bridge in August, wanted to close a major city bridge with Saturday’s rally, Rata said, but were forced to abandon those plans on Friday due to strong winds.
Police said there were no arrests at the march and that roads along the route were being reopened.
Aotearoa for Palestine said it wanted New Zealand’s center-right coalition government to impose sanctions on Israel.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in August described recent Israeli actions in Gaza, including a lack of humanitarian assistance, as “utterly appalling,” and New Zealand has been weighing up whether to recognize a Palestinian state.
The New Zealand Jewish Council, a body representing around 10,000 Jews who live in the country, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the march.