The mayor of the DR Congo town near where a boat caught fire earlier this week has said at least 33 people died in the disaster, significantly fewer than previously reported.
That toll, the first official one from Tuesday's blaze, is far lower than that of at least 143 deaths previously given to AFP by a national deputy and a local civil society figure.
"We count 195 who have survived, including 22 burn victims who are being cared for at Wangata general hospital, and 33 deaths, with 29 people already buried and four more still at the morgue," said the mayor of Mbandaka, Yves Balo.
Asked about the discrepancy, Balo pointed to "confusion" in the tallying of the deaths from the tragedy.
The disaster occurred near Mbandaka, capital of Equateur Province, at the confluence of the Ruki and the vast Congo river -- the world's deepest.
