At least five people were drowned in a river boat accident that left some 100 missing in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo, the military said Saturday.

Jean-Bosco Isokumu, commander of a naval unit at Mbandaka, capital of Equateur province, said the boat sank early Friday on the river Ruki, some 40 kilometres from Mbandaka.

"Five bodies, of a woman and four children, have resurfaced and around 100 passengers are still missing," he said.

Witnesses told the army that the boat was grossly overloaded with around 150 people and mainly agricultural merchandise.

Sapa