Kinshasa, Dec 11: At least 40 people died and several are missing in the Democratic Republic of Congo after their boat capsized at the weekend on the River Congo, an interior ministry delegate said on Monday.

"Forty people have been fished out by the naval police near Lisala," in the northeast of DR Congo, a member of an interior ministry delegation visiting the disaster scene said.

More than 220 people were rescued on Sunday by river police after the barge, M/B Lipamboli, which was carrying a large cargo of oil and wood to the capital Kinshasa, started to sink.

"There will have been several disappeared among those on board... the exact number is not known," the interior ministry delegation member said.

Rescuers were still searching for survivors on Monday from the accident, which occurred near Lisala, more than 500 kilometres (300 miles) northeast of Mbandaka, the main town in Equateur province.

Boat disasters are frequent on DR Congo's lakes and rivers, often because vessels are overloaded. The number of passengers on board is often much higher than registered on the vessel's log, and safety measures are often lax.