KINSHASA, Congo — A ferry overloaded with people returning home for Christmas capsized on the Busira River in northeastern Congo, leaving 38 people confirmed dead and over 100 others missing, officials and eyewitnesses said Saturday.

Twenty people have been rescued so far.

The sinking of the ferry late Friday came less than four days after a boat capsized in the country’s northeast, killing 25.

The ferry was traveling as part of a convoy of other vessels and the passengers were primarily merchants returning home for Christmas, said Joseph Joseph Kangolingoli, the mayor of Ingende, the last town on the river before the site of the accident.

According to Ingende resident Ndolo Kaddy, the ferry contained “more than 400 people because it made two ports, Ingende and Loolo, on the way to Boende, so there is reason to believe there were more deaths.”

Officials have often warned against overloading boats.

— The Associated Press