TEHRAN, October 09 (MNA) – More than 50 people have died and more are believed to be missing following the capsizing of a makeshift vessel on the Congo River earlier this week, according to provincial authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Fifty-one bodies had been recovered by late on Friday from the boat that sank during the night of Monday to Tuesday, and almost 70 are believed to be missing, Nestor Magbado, a spokesman for the governor of the northwestern province of Mongala, told AFP news agency on Saturday.

He said there were 39 survivors.

With no manifest of the passengers on board, the number of those missing is an estimate based on the capacity of the boat, he said.

The vessel was nine traditional wooden canoes, known as pirogues, all tied together, Magbado said.

He added that the accident may have been caused by “overcrowding aggravated by bad weather” during the night.

The scale of the accident was not clear until it was reported by media late on Friday, and confirmed on Saturday by provincial authorities.

Magbado said the Mongala authorities had informed authorities in the DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, of the sinking just after it occurred, but had waited for more information about the number of casualties.

Search and rescue operations are continuing, but hopes are fading of finding more survivors, he said.

Provincial authorities have declared three days of mourning from Monday.

ZZ/PR