At least 143 dead in DR Congo boat fire

Deadly boat fire in DRC kills 143, with dozens missing; fuel explosion ignites blaze on Congo River vessel.

At least 143 people died and dozens more went missing after a boat carrying fuel caught fire and capsized in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Friday (April 18, 2025).

Hundreds of passengers were crowded onto a wooden boat on the Congo River in northwest DRC on Tuesday when the blaze broke out, according to Josephine-Pacifique Lokumu, head of a delegation of national deputies from the region.

The disaster occurred near Mbandaka, capital of Equateur Province, at the confluence of the Ruki and the vast Congo river — the world's deepest.

"A first group of 131 bodies were found on Wednesday, with a further 12 fished out on Thursday and Friday. Several of them are charred," Ms. Lokumu told AFP.

Joseph Lokondo, a local civil society leader who said he helped bury the bodies, put the "provisional death toll at 145: some burned, others drowned".

Ms. Lokumu said the blaze was caused by a fuel explosion ignited by an onboard cooking fire.

"A woman lit the embers for cooking. The fuel, which was not far away, exploded, killing many children and women", she said.