Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have confirmed the recent recovery of the bodies of 22 other victims of a river boat capsizing incident that occurred in the country's northwestern province of Equateur late last week, raising the death toll to 52.
Officials warned that several other people are still reported to be missing in the wake of the incident, which occurred when the unnamed vessel overturned in the Congo River near the city of Mbandaka on the night (local time) of Friday, October 13.
The wooden boat was carrying passengers and assorted cargo including construction equipment when it capsized. However, reports vary as to the actual number of people who were on board at the time.
The bodies of 30 deceased victims were initially pulled from the surrounding waters while 189 of the boat's occupants have been safely rescued.
Equateur health minister Didier Mbula told Reuters earlier this week that the death toll has since climbed and that the figure "may increase further" as rescuers continue to comb the surrounding waters for any trace of the missing occupants.
Marc Ekila, the country's transport minister, said in a recent press briefing that the ill-fated vessel was overloaded and was not authorised to operate at night.
