More than 50 people have died and more are believed to be missing following the capsizing of a makeshift vessel on the Congo River last week.

Provincial authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, said fifty-one bodies had been recovered by Friday from the boat that sank during the night of Monday to Tuesday.

A spokesman for the governor of the northwestern province of Mongala, said on Saturday that almost 70 are believed to be missing while there are 39 survivors.

According to him, the number of those missing is an estimate based on the capacity of the boat since there is no manifest of the passengers on board.

The vessel was nine traditional wooden canoes, known as pirogues, all tied together.

Arise News