The governor of the South Kivu province said the death toll was provisional and the number of fatalities could rise further. He said there were 278 people on board, according to local authorities.
Mutombo spent his retirement on humanitarian causes. He spoke nine languages and founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, concentrating on improving the quality of life for people in the Congo.
A provisional assessment showed that 24 inmates were shot dead by “warning” gunshots as they tried to escape from the overcrowded Makala Central Prison in Kinshasa early Monday, the government said.
The results of the Dec. 20 election were announced amid calls from the opposition and civil society groups for the vote to be rerun due to logistical problems they said had undermined the balloting.
Some 44 million people — almost half the population — were expected to vote, but many, including several million displaced by conflict in the vast country's east, could struggle to cast their ballots.
The volcano, which had not erupted in nearly two decades, caused thousands to flee, many across the border to Rwanda. But the lava didn't appear to be flowing toward Goma, a city of nearly 2 million.
The Democratic Republic of Congo beat its second-worst outbreak of the Ebola virus in June. The new victims indicate the disease's resurgence in the area.
Regeneron — the pharmaceutical company developing COVID-19 treatments — has received FDA approval for the first drug aimed at another infectious disease that's been in the headlines.
