No fewer than 58 people have been confirmed dead after a boat carrying over 300 passengers capsized in the Central African Republic.
This was confirmed by the head of civil protection in the country, Thomas Djimasse on Saturday, April 20, 2024.
According to him, the boat which carried over 300 passengers going for a funeral capsized in the Central African Republic’s capital Bangui.
“We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of underwater people.
According to witnesses and videos on social media, the boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko river on Friday.
Maurice Kapenya, who was following the boat in a canoe because there was no space on board, said he collected the bodies of some of the victims, including his own sister, with the help of fishermen and residents.
Some of the injured were evacuated by motorbike taxis. Dozens of survivors are reported to be receiving treatment in hospitals in Bangui.
A driver, Francis said he had “taken more than 10 people to the community hospital… free of charge, in the face of the tragedy”.
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