At least 180 people went missing after a ship sank late Sunday on the Congo River in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), local authorities said Thursday.

Competent Mboyo, river commissioner of Mbandaka, capital of the province of Equateur, announced the tragedy in a provisional assessment without specifying further details.

The boat, which was in poor condition, was overloaded with about 600 passengers, reported the UN-backed news outlet Radio Okapi, citing some survivors' testimonies.

Ship accidents are recurrent across the DRC, particularly on the Congo River, with night-time travel and overloads, as well as the poor conditions of ships usually the causes.