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.

刚果民主共和国一艘载有乘客和货物的轮船发生翻船事故，多达140名乘客可能已死亡。

The accident happened on the Kasai river - a tributary¹（支流，附属国） of the Congo River - in the western province of Bandundu.

Information Minister Lambert Mende told the BBC the boat had been overloaded²（超载） and 80 people had been confirmed dead.

After decades of conflict, DR Congo has few roads or rail links and many people travel on often overloaded vessels³.

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（铺面道路） outside the cities.