Up to 140 people are feared dead after a boat carrying passengers and goods capsized on a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say.

The accident happened on the Kasai river - a tributary of the Congo River - in the western province of Bandundu.

Information Minister Lambert Mende told the BBC the boat had been overloaded and 80 people had been confirmed dead.
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After decades of conflict, DR Congo has few roads or rail links and many people travel on often overloaded vessels.

The latest accident occurred on Wednesday.

Mr Mende told the BBC the river level had been low and the accident occurred when the overcrowded boat hit a mud bank.

It was travelling to the capital Kinshasa from Mushie, about 30km (20 miles) from the town of Bandundu, AFP news agency reports.

Last November at least 73 people died when a boat sank on Lake Mai-Ndombe, also in Bandundu province.

DR Congo - a country the size of western Europe - has only a few hundred kilometres of paved roads outside the cities.