Seven Congolese refugees die in Zambia boat accident

Seven Congolese refugees in Zambia died following a boat accident as they sought to escape from a transit centre north of the country, police said.

Zambia police issued a statement saying: "Seven Democratic Republic of Congo nationals have drowned on Lake Mweru in Chiengi District of Luapula Province after their boat capsized due to heavy winds."

The statement said those who died were part of the 35 Congolese who had escaped from Kenani Refugee Transit Centre in the neighbouring Nchelenge District of Luapula Province in a bid to go back to their country.

Zambia police spokeswoman Esther Katongo said four bodies of juveniles aged between two months and four years had so far [Saturday] been retrieved and taken to Chiengi Hospital mortuary.

However, three bodies were still missing.

A 21-year-old coxswain, Mr Davies Kalumba, was arrested for causing death by dangerous navigation.

Thousands of Congolese have fled across the border to Zambia, especially since late last August, triggering an emergency response from refugee agency UNHCR, which has struggled to provide basic food rations and shelter.

DR Congo's huge eastern region has long been wracked by violence, but fighting between government soldiers and militia groups, as well as inter-ethnic clashes, have also been heightening.

UNHCR said the unrest had caused the largest influx into Zambia for the past five years, with many refugees blaming DR Congo President Joseph Kabila's troops for the worst of the violence.

President Kabila failed to step down after his second and final term in December 2016.

Elections were re-scheduled for 2017, but have now been announced for December 2018.