Goma, Oct 4 (IANS): At least 87 people have been reportedly killed after a ferry sank on Lake Kivu in the eastern Congo.

The ferry, coming from the town of Minova in the South Kivu province, capsized on Thursday near the port of Kituku, on the outskirts of Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province.

In a report addressed to the Central government in Kinshasa, the provincial government also spoke of 78 people still missing. The 87 bodies recovered were transported to the morgue of the general hospital in Goma and nine other survivors were taken to hospital, Xinhua news agency reported.

The number of passengers aboard the boat remains unknown.

The boat failed to withstand a violent wave before it capsized about 700 m away from the port, said staff of the Kituku port.

Till late Thursday, the population still gathered at the port of Kituku with anxiety and the hope of finding the bodies of their loved ones.

The roads between Goma and Minova have been cut off for months due to hostilities between armed groups and the military. Cases of boat accidents are frequent on Lake Kivu due to strong winds and overloading.