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Scores Die when Boat with 278 Passengers Capsized in Eastern Congo

Medical staff and members of security forces load the dead body of a victim of a capsized boat in an ambulance in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, 03 October 2024. EPA/MARIE JEANNE MUNYERENKANA
Medical staff and members of security forces load the dead body of a victim of a capsized boat in an ambulance in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, 03 October 2024. EPA/MARIE JEANNE MUNYERENKANA
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Scores Die when Boat with 278 Passengers Capsized in Eastern Congo

Medical staff and members of security forces load the dead body of a victim of a capsized boat in an ambulance in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, 03 October 2024. EPA/MARIE JEANNE MUNYERENKANA
Medical staff and members of security forces load the dead body of a victim of a capsized boat in an ambulance in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, 03 October 2024. EPA/MARIE JEANNE MUNYERENKANA

A Congolese governor said Thursday that at least 78 people died when an overcrowded boat with 278 passengers capsized on Lake Kivu in eastern Congo on Thursday.

Jean-Jacques Purusi, governor of the South Kivu province, spoke to The Associated Press over the phone hours after the tragedy. Her said the death toll was provisional and that the number of fatalities could rise.

The boat, overloaded with passengers, sank while trying to dock just meters away from the port of Kituku, according to witnesses. It was going from Minova in South Kivu province to Goma, in North Kivu province.

Congolese officials have often warned against overloading and vowed to punish those violating safety measures for water transportation. But in remote areas where most passengers come from, many are unable to afford public transport for the few available roads.

In June, an overloaded boat sank near the capital of Kinshasa and 80 passengers lost their lives. In January, 22 people died on Lake Maî-Ndombe and in April 2023, six were killed and 64 went missing on Lake Kivu.

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France Won’t Hesitate to Restore UN Sanctions on Iran if No Deal, Says Foreign Minister 

France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot speaks during a stakeout outside the Security Council at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters)
France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot speaks during a stakeout outside the Security Council at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters)
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France Won’t Hesitate to Restore UN Sanctions on Iran if No Deal, Says Foreign Minister 

France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot speaks during a stakeout outside the Security Council at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters)
France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot speaks during a stakeout outside the Security Council at UN Headquarters in New York City, US, April 28, 2025. (Reuters)

France will not think twice about reimposing United Nations sanctions on Iran if negotiations to reach a deal over its nuclear program do not succeed, its foreign minister told the UN Security Council late on Monday.

France, Britain and Germany - the "E3" - are parties to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that expires in October and have the power to initiate its mechanism for reimposing sanctions, called snapback, at the Security Council.

"It goes without saying that when the Iranian nuclear deal expires in a few weeks, if European security interests are not guaranteed, we will not hesitate for a single second to reapply all the sanctions that were lifted 10 years ago," Jean-Noel Barrot said.

Iran and the United States, which quit the 2015 deal and reimposed its own sanctions, have been holding talks on the decades-old standoff.

US President Donald Trump has said he is confident of clinching a new pact that would block Iran's path to a nuclear bomb, although Iran says its program is purely civilian.

According to diplomats, the E3 countries are now looking to trigger snapback by August, rather than June, if no substantial deal can be found by then. The opportunity expires on October 18.

"These sanctions would then permanently close off Iranian access to technology, investment, and the European market, with devastating effects on the country's economy. This is not what we want, and that is why I solemnly call on Iran to take the necessary decisions today to avoid the worst," Barrot said.

Iran has proposed meeting the E3, possibly in Rome this Friday, if talks resume with the United States, four diplomats said on Monday, cautioning that the E3 have yet to respond.