( CNN ) Up to 100 people are feared missing after two boats collided on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the World Health Organization said Saturday . The collision happened Thursday morning but news of the disaster is only just emerging . Eugene Kabambi , a WHO spokesman in the country 's capital , Kinshasa , told CNN that the wreck occurred at a resort downstream of the town of Kwamouth , when an overloaded barge en route to Inongo collided with a boat carrying 150 people . `` We are searching for as many as 100 people in the Congo River as well as assisting these people with body bags , medical kit , '' said Kabambi . `` One of the boats was totally destroyed and that is the one we believe was carrying the missing . '' Kabambi said his team had been told Friday by the provincial minister of transportation and infrastructure that there were 100 passengers in total and that 42 people had been rescued . However , WHO believes the number of passengers to be close to 150 , based on survivors ' accounts . A WHO statement released Friday said three bodies had been recovered from the river so far . No passenger manifest was available so it 's difficult to establish the total number of people on board the privately owned vessel , it said . No one is thought to have been injured on the barge . The accident is believed to have been caused by powerful currents near the Ngobila rapids . According to WHO , which was awaiting a delivery of medical supplies and body bags to the area Saturday , overloaded barges and passenger boats frequently sink in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , on the Congo River and on the country 's lakes . This is usually owing to the age of the vessels and failure to follow rules of navigation .
WHO says an overloaded barge and a passenger boat collided near rapids . The accident happened in the early morning hours of Friday at around 2 a.m. local time on Lake Michigan, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Local officials say 42 people have been rescued ; WHO says three bodies have been found .