27 dead, 54 missing as boat sinks in Democratic Republic of Congo

In a tragic accident, nearly 27 people have died and 54 are missing after a boat sank in the river Kasai in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official said on Sunday.

"Rigorous" checks had confirmed "at this stage" the numbers of dead and missing in the accident, which happened overnight Thursday to Friday, the administrator of Idiofa territory, Jacques Mbila, said.

Earlier, in another terrible incident in June, at least nine people died whereas 28 went missing after a tourist boat had sank for unknown reasons in a reservoir in Colombia. 

With PTI inputs