Dozens missing in Congo after boat sinks

Dozens of people are missing after a boat sank on Lake Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The accident occurred early on Monday around 20 minutes after the boat departed from an island in the lake, bound for the regional capital Goma, government official Norbert Rugusha said.

Local civic rights group president Esther Muratwa said the boat had left the village of Kisheke on Idjwi island in Lake Kivu, which divides Congo and Rwanda, with up to 80 people on board around midnight on Sunday.

She said fishermen who went to help with the rescue found 19 survivors.