At least 90 people are believed dead after a logging boat sank on a lake in Congo, according to UN radio.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government today refused rebel leader Laurent Nkunda’s demand for direct talks to solve the crisis in eastern Kivu province, where tens of thousands of desperate refugees were receiving international aid.

Congo fired its transport minister tonight as emergency workers extinguished the last flames from a plane crash which killed at least 50 people, finding still more bodies in the wreckage.

At least 25 people were killed when a cargo plane crashed in Congo’s capital seconds after take-off.