At least 23 people have died, and many others injured, following a boat accident on Lake Kivu in Goma, the capital of DR Congo’s Noth Kivu Province, on the morning of Thursday, October 3.

The Congolese boat MV Merdi from Minova, in South Kivu Province, capsized some 300 meters before docking at Goma, with nearly 200 people on board.

Reuters reported that around 23 bodies had been recovered by Thursday afternoon and 40 people rescued.

A video circulating on social media showed the two-decked boat capsizing after a manoeuvre to its left.

The army quickly intervened to rescue the victims, according to Col Molatelo Motau of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission in Democratic Republic of Congo

A local migration authority said that around 45 males and 35 females were registered as passengers, adding that those figures were not definitive and ages were unavailable.