At least 123 survivors and 18 dead bodies have been recovered while around about 100 people are still missing after boat sank in the Mongala River near Akula last Saturday.
The provincial minister of communication and spokesperson for the provincial government in Mongala, Nestor Mando reported on Tuesday, April 24, 2024 that the survivors have revealed that they had been with a host of other family members whose bodies are still missing as the search continues.
“After the investigations, there were 123 survivors, 18 dead bodies which were recovered, around a hundred missing. We have difficulty giving exact figures, due to lack of a manifest, because after this unfortunate incident, the manager and the other people responsible for this makeshift boat, have fled, the security services are chasing them,” explained the member of the Mongala provincial government.
And to continue:
“The government covered the funeral costs and also made the means available to divers to continue searching the bodies for their life. There are certain survivors who are at the level of different host families, some of among them are hosted in local churches,” he said.
Mando adds that the boat had left Binga for the Bokangana market overloaded which was caused accident and points out that the government had banned night navigation and overloading.
