The accident occurred when a fire broke out on board the motorboat, which was made of wood and was traveling in northwestern Congo-Kinshasa. About 100 people have been rescued, several of them with serious burns.
Some passengers, including children, drowned when they jumped into the water without being able to swim.
The rescue service is searching for survivors with the support of, among others, the Red Cross.
Hundreds of people have died in accidents on the Congo River in recent years, which is a vital transportation route for the approximately 100 million inhabitants of the country. A common cause of accidents is precisely overcrowded boats and nighttime travel.
