Death toll from DRC boat accident rises to 40

Twenty-seven more people have been found dead from a boat accident on Lake Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week, bringing the total death toll to 40, interim interior minister Basile Olongo told Reuters on Saturday.

The bodies were discovered across the border on the eastern shore of the lake in Rwanda, Olongo said.

The boat was carrying nearly 200 people when it capsized. Over 100 remain missing.

Deadly boat accidents are common in Congo, which has few tarred roads across its vast, forested interior and where vessels are frequently loaded well beyond their capacity.

The boat, a smaller type known as a pirogue, had set out from neighbouring North Kivu province on Monday and foundered on the lake near South Kivu's Kalehe territory.

It was unclear who operated the boat and exactly how it sank, though overcrowding is often a cause.

In one of the worst boat disasters, an overloaded vessel capsized in the Congo River in 2010, killing 138 people.