260 feared dead in ferry disaster

At least 160 people died and 100 are missing after two ferries collided during a violent storm on the Congo River today.

The disaster happened near the town of Inongo, officials in Kinshasa said.

Of roughly 500 on board, 222 are known to have survived the collision, said Catherine Nzuzi, Congo's minister of humanitarian affairs.

Authorities said both ferries were overloaded, but said bad weather was the main cause of the accident.

“There was a violent storm that provoked the collision,” Nzuzi said.

Residents of the town of Inongo were helping bury the dead in mass graves, authorities said.

Congo’s government reopened the river to commercial traffic in April after closing it during the country’s nearly five-year war, fearing rebels could use it to move on Kinshasa.