UAE expresses solidarity with DR Congo, conveys condolences over boat-accident victims

The United Arab Emirates has expressed its solidarity with the Democratic Republic of the Congo over two tragic boat accidents on the Congo River that caused numerous deaths, injuries, and missing persons.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) expressed its sincere condolences and sympathy with the families of the victims, and to the government and people of the DR Congo over the two tragic incidents, as well as its wishes for a speedy recovery for all the injured.

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At least 107 people died after a whaleboat caught fire in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to an internal government report seen by Reuters on Friday.

The boat, a narrow, double-ended open vessel caught fire on the Congo River near Malange village in Lukolela territory on Thursday evening, leaving 146 people missing, the Ministry of Social Affairs said in the memo.

Rescue teams recovered 209 survivors, several with injuries, after the vessel burned and drifted downstream, the note said. The fire also destroyed cargo on board and ignited 15 riverside homes.

The accident comes days after at least 86 people died in a separate shipwreck on Wednesday night at the confluence of the Nsolo and Great Maringa rivers in Basankusu territory, northeast of Malange, after a river boat sank on Wednesday, Congo, state media reported Thursday adding that local residents pulled eight survivors from the water.