KINSHASA (Reuters) - A boat tipped over in a river in northern Democratic Republic of Congo, drowning 49 people on board while about the same number survived the accident, a local official told a Congolese radio station.

Richard Mboyo Iluka, vice governor of remote Tshuapa province, in northern Congo, told Radio Top Congo that the whaleboat had sunk with all of its passengers late on Wednesday.

Deadly boat accidents are common in Congo, a vast, forested country which has few roads outside of major towns and is carved up by a network of rivers that drain the Congo Basin. For most people these rivers are the only means of traveling over long distances. </s> About 50 people have died after a boat capsized on a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say.

The vice-governor of Tshuapa province in the north of the country said the cause of the accident was not clear.

More than 60 people survived when the boat tipped over as it was travelling from Monkoto to Mbandaka.

River transport is common in DR Congo as there are few roads or railways, but vessels are often overloaded and accidents are frequent.

Mbandaka is also currently struggling with an outbreak of Ebola, with fears that it could spread from the city of one million to the capital, Kinshasa, via traders using the Congo river.

Tshuapa Vice-Governor Richard Mboyo Iluka told the AFP news agency that the boat had been travelling at night, which is illegal, and did not have lights.

More bodies are still being found along the Momboyo river, where the accident occurred.

The area is very remote with no access to a mortuary, so the victims are being hastily buried near the river.

Last month more than 40 people drowned when travelling to neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville. </s> KINSHASA: About 50 people died and 100 were burnt on Saturday after an oil tanker collided with a vehicle on an arterial highway in the west of DR Congo, the acting governor of the region said.

"We have about 50 dead and a 100 people have suffered second degree burns," said Atou Matabuana, the interim governor of Kongo Central region, according to the actualite.cd website. The accident occurred on a highway linking the capital Kinshasa to the country´s sole port at Matadi on the Atlantic Ocean.

It took place near the city of Kisantu, about 120 kilometres west of Kinshasa. The UN´s Okapi radio said "the flames spread rapidly engulfing nearby houses." Overloaded trucks carrying goods as well as oil tankers regularly ply this highway. </s> Authorities in the DR Congo estimate that at least 50 people have been killed with a further 100 receiving second degree burns, after an oil tanker collided with another vehicle before bursting into flames, AFP reports. The incident took place near the city of Kisantu, along a main highway which links the capital Kinshasa to the country's sole port at Matadi on the Atlantic Ocean. Many of the injuries occurred as flames from the crash “spread rapidly engulfing nearby houses,” the UN’s Okapi radio said. Oil tankers and trucks overloaded with goods are a regular scene on the highway. </s> Uganda: At least 10 die in boat accident on Lake Victoria

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A Ugandan police official says at least 10 people have died in a boat accident on Lake Victoria.

Police spokesman Emilian Kayima said late Saturday that police marine units had pulled 40 survivors from the water.

He said search and rescue efforts will continue overnight for others believed to be trapped under the water in the completely submerged boat. He gave no details on the cause of the accident.

It was not immediately clear how many people were on board.

Boat accidents are increasingly common on East Africa's major lakes including Lake Victoria, which is surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Over 200 people were killed in a Tanzanian ferry disaster in September, with officials saying it had been dangerously overcrowded. </s> KAMPALA, Uganda — A Ugandan police official says at least 10 people have died in a boat accident on Lake Victoria.

Police spokesman Emilian Kayima said late Saturday that police marine units had pulled 40 survivors from the water.

He said search and rescue efforts will continue overnight for others believed to be trapped under the water in the completely submerged boat. He gave no details on the cause of the accident.

It was not immediately clear how many people were on board.

Boat accidents are increasingly common on East Africa’s major lakes including Lake Victoria, which is surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Over 200 people were killed in a Tanzanian ferry disaster in September, with officials saying it had been dangerously overcrowded.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> A Ugandan prince has been rescued from a boat accident which left at least 10 people dead.

Prince David Wasajja, a brother of Buganda King Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, was on the boat, along with singer Iryn Namubiru and rapper The Mith, according to reports.

A police spokesman said marine units had pulled 40 survivors out of Lake Victoria on Saturday, where it was reported 120 people were on board the crashed vessel.

Rescue efforts were to continue overnight as it is feared others may be trapped under the completely submerged boat.

The vessel was heading to Motola Beach having left Portbell, Uganda.

A person cliaming to be Iryn's manager said she was among those who were safe, local media claism.

Video footage said to be of revellers on the boat before it capsized showed them dancing and drinking while posing for the camera.

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the third largest, by area, in the world after Lake Superior and the Caspian Sea. It is approximately 26,590sq miles.

Boat accidents are increasingly common on East Africa's major lakes including Lake Victoria, which is surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

In 2012, at least 145 people died in a ferry disaster in the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, on a vessel that was overcrowded

Over 200 people were killed in a Tanzanian ferry disaster in September, with officials saying it had been dangerously overcrowded. </s> (CNN) — At least 35 people died in a boat accident on Lake Victoria in Uganda on Saturday, according to the Ugandan Police Force.

Police said the boat was "in poor mechanical shape" and was overloaded with passengers on a lake cruise when it capsized.

A marine unit has rescued 26 people, and searches are ongoing to find more passengers. More than 50 people are unaccounted for, said Army Lt. Col. Deo Akiiki Asimwe.

Authorities said they expect the death toll to rise.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni offered condolences to the victims, adding that "according to preliminary information from the security services" the boat was "private, unregistered, unlicensed and maybe uninsured." </s> KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — At least 50 people were killed on Saturday and more than 100 had second-degree burns when a tanker truck in Congo collided with a bus and, as villagers rushed to collect the leaking fuel, caught fire, witnesses and officials said.

“We deplore the deaths,” the interim governor of Kongo-Central province, Atu Matubuana, told The Associated Press. Officials were preparing to identify the charred bodies and bury them, Matubuana said.

The accident occurred in the village of Mbuba, not far from Kisantu city and about 200 kilometers (124 miles) southwest of the capital, Kinshasa.

Kisantu is on the main highway between the capital and the country’s Matadi seaport.

Health officials have been instructed to prepare local hospitals to “do everything necessary” to treat all of the victims, the interim governor said.

In 2010, more than 200 people were killed when a tanker truck overturned and burned in Congo’s South Kivu province. Many of the victims had been trying to collect the leaking fuel when it caught fire.
A whaleboat accident kills 49 people in Tshuapa province, DR Congo.