At least 23 people died when a large motorized canoe capsized on Lake Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo late on Sunday, the United Nations said on Monday.

"The provisional death toll is 23 ... 23 bodies have been recovered. Another 43 people have been rescued but the rescue operation is ongoing so this may rise," said Madnodje Mounoubai, a spokesman for the UN mission in the eastern Congolese town of Bukavu.

The boat was going from the town of Kalehe across Lake Kivu to Goma, a town some 25 miles away. A Kalehe resident said he believed just over 80 people were aboard the vessel, which was also laden with manioc and bananas.

(China Daily via agencies October 12, 2004)