Some 138 people died when an overloaded boat carrying passengers and goods capsized in bad weather in Democratic Republic of Congo, police said on Thursday.

The accident took place on Wednesday on a stretch of river in the western Bandundu province, some 300 km east of Kinshasa, the capital of the vast central African nation.

"The boat was badly overloaded and it didn't make the rough waters," Jolly Limengo, provincial inspector of police for Bandundu, told Reuters by telephone on Thursday.
    "People here don't know how to swim. Our provisional toll is 138 dead," Limengo added.

Decades of conflict and neglect have left the nation's infrastructure in tatters, meaning travel by air and river are often the best or only option for Congolese travellers. Accidents are frequent and often blamed on overloading.-Reuters