Fishermen recover 50 bodies from Eastern Congo lake

Congolese fishermen have recovered about 50 bodies floating on a lake in the north-east, officials and civil society activists said on Wednesday.

The bodies were discovered by fishermen based in the town of Kasenyi, located on the western shore of Lake Albert.

“The bodies are in a state of decomposition. We don’t know their origin,” Anicet Lossa, coordinator of civil society organisations in Kasenyi, told reporters.

Dozens of militias are active in eastern Congo, but army spokesman Carlos Kalombo said there had been no recent fighting that could explain the presence of the bodies.

Kalombo said the bodies may have been carried by rivers flowing into Lake Albert from Uganda, where the guards of a traditional king clashed with security forces 10 days ago.

Over 60 people were killed, prompting the authorities to raise murder charges against Charles Mumbere, monarch of the kingdom of Rwenzururu, who sought independence from Uganda.

Ituri province governor Abdallah Mbaka said fishermen had buried two of the bodies found in the lake.

The authorities were planning to try to identify the others, and the army was due to send a team of investigators to Kasenyi.

Civil society organisations called on the authorities to make sure the bodies had not contaminated the lake, where locals fetch water for drinking and household chores.