Red Cross officials say that they have recovered nine bodies in Rwandan waters following an accident where a boat carrying over 100 passengers capsized in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) part of Lake Kivu.

Only 15 persons survived the tragedy.

Authorities attribute the incident that occurred when the boat that was ferrying passengers from Minova in Goma to Bukavu, to overloading.

"We have been working for one week now and the operation could go on for a month because there are so many bodies that are still missing and we suspect they are within Rwandan waters,” Michel Habumugisha, a volunteer with the Red Cross Rwanda said.

Habumugisha said that Congolese authorities were contacted to collect recovered bodies.

"We have asked fishermen and other people who use the lake to help us in this operation by giving us information related to bodies they may see on the lake or inform the police as well,” added Habumugisha.

The Congolese authorities working with Red Cross Congo have so far recovered 13 bodies which they have taken back to Minova for burial.

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