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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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NKorea's Kim Threatens to Destroy South with Nuclear Strikes if Provoked

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the training base of the special operations unit of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in an undisclosed location in the west of North Korea, 02 October 2024 (issued 04 October 2024). EPA/KCNA
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the training base of the special operations unit of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in an undisclosed location in the west of North Korea, 02 October 2024 (issued 04 October 2024). EPA/KCNA
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NKorea's Kim Threatens to Destroy South with Nuclear Strikes if Provoked

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the training base of the special operations unit of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in an undisclosed location in the west of North Korea, 02 October 2024 (issued 04 October 2024). EPA/KCNA
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the training base of the special operations unit of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in an undisclosed location in the west of North Korea, 02 October 2024 (issued 04 October 2024). EPA/KCNA

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to use nuclear weapons and destroy South Korea permanently if provoked, state media reported Friday, after the South’s leader warned that Kim’s regime would collapse if he attempted to use nuclear arms.

During a visit to a special operation forces unit on Wednesday, Kim said his military “would use without hesitation all the offensive forces it possesses, including nuclear weapons,” if South Korea attempts to use armed forces encroaching upon the sovereignty of North Korea, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
“If such a situation comes, the permanent existence of Seoul and the Republic of Korea would be impossible,” Kim said, using South Korea’s official name.
Kim’s statement was a response to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s speech at his country’s Armed Forces Day on Tuesday. Unveiling South Korea’s most powerful Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile and other conventional weapons that could target North Korea, Yoon said the day that North Korea tries to use nuclear weapons would be the end of the Kim government because Kim would face “the resolute and overwhelming response” of the South Korean-US alliance.
According to The Associated Press, Kim responded that Yoon’s address fully betrayed his “bellicose temerity” and showed “the security uneasiness and irritating psychology of the puppet forces.”
In a derisive comment, Kim called Yoon "an abnormal man,” saying that “the puppet Yoon bragged about an overwhelming counteraction of military muscle at the doorstep of a state that possesses nuclear weapons.” On Thursday, Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, also ridiculed South Korea's showcasing of the Hyunmoo-5 missile, saying there there’s no way for South Korea to counter the North Korea’s nuclear forces with conventional weapons.
On Friday, South Korea’s military said North Korea was again flying balloons likely carrying trash across the border into South Korea. Since late May, North Korea has launched thousands of rubbish-carrying balloons toward South Korea, prompting South Korea to resume anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts at border areas.