Anne Short died on New Year's Eve, only a few months after she was diagnosed with cancer. Her son Elliot, 30, from Newport, South Wales, says the grieving process was made harder after having to wait eight weeks to hold her funeral. "Quite frankly, it's ridiculous, when you're already going through all this pain and suffering as a family," he told Sky News. "You can't move on, you can't do anything, you can't arrange anything, you can't feel that they're at peace, you can't put yourself at peace, because of a process that's been put in that nobody seems to know anything about at the moment." That process has been introduced by the government to address "concerns" about how causes of death were previously scrutinised, following high-profile criminal cases such as those of Harold Shipman and Lucy Letby. Up until last September, causes of death could be signed off by a GP, but now they have to be independently scrutinised by a medical examiner, before a death certificate can be issued. 'I felt helpless' Mr Short said he was ringing "twice a day" for a progress update, but that it was "going through too many sets of hands". Until the death certificate was issued, Ms Short's body could not be released into the care of the funeral director. "The main stress for me was knowing that she was up there [at the hospital] and I couldn't move her, so I felt helpless, powerless," he said. "I felt like I'd let her down in a lot of ways. I know now, looking back, that there's nothing that we could have done, but at the time it was adding a lot of stress. I just wanted her out of there." 'Something has to be done' Mr Short fears there's a risk the new process might defeat its purpose. "There's other people that I know that have lost since, where it's been in a care home or something like that, where they haven't been happy with the care they've had, but they haven't raised that because you're in this bubble of grief and you just want to get it done," he said. "Something has to be done about that because I think it just drags on the grief and there's obviously a danger then of it being against the reasons why they're trying to do it." Arrangements after the death of his father less than two years ago was a "much easier process", according to Mr Short. "I lost my father as well 15 months before, so we went through the process prior to this coming in and we had the death certificate, he died at home, but we had it within three days," he added. 'State of limbo' James Tovey is the sixth generation of his family running Tovey Bros, a funeral director in Newport. He told Sky News that the delays were having a "huge impact" on the business and that the families they serve were being "left in a state of limbo" for weeks after their bereavement. "I would say that most funerals will take place perhaps two to four weeks after the person's passed away, whereas now it's much more like four to six weeks, so it is quite a significant difference," he said. "It's one thing on top of an already distressing time for them and we're frustrated and upset for [the families] as much as anybody else and it's just annoying that we can't do anything about it." Mr Tovey said that the reform was "very useful" and he remained supportive of it. "It's just the delays. I'm sure they can do something about that over time, but it's just waiting for that to happen, and I wish that could be addressed sooner rather than later," he added. "It does put pressure on other people, it's not just ourselves, it's pressure on the hospitals, on crematoria, on the registrar service and everyone else involved in our profession. "But of course all of us we're there to serve the families, and we're just upset for them and wish we could do more to help." The National Association of Funeral Directors said some areas of England and Wales are experiencing much shorter delays than others, but has called for "urgent action". Rachel Bradburne, its director of external affairs, said the system was "introduced for all the right reasons" but that it was "not working as well as we need it to". "Funeral directors are relaying stories of delays, frustration, and bottlenecks on a daily basis, and urgent action is required to review and recalibrate the new system," she added. 'Unintended consequences' Dr Roger Greene is the deputy chief executive of bereavement charity AtALoss. He told Sky News that the delays were "one of the unintended consequences of what's a well-intended reform of a system". "What has actually happened is that the number of deaths now requiring independent scrutiny has trebled," he said. "So in England and Wales in 2023, the last full year of data, there were nearly 200,000 deaths reported to a coroner, whereas there were 600,000 deaths. "Now, what is the change in the process is that all deaths now need to be reported for independent scrutiny." Dr Greene said there may be ways the system could be "tweaked a little bit", such as giving medical examiners the ability to issue an interim death certificate. "We believe that people can process grief well if they're given the opportunity and they've got a proper understanding," he added. "But the systems that we have in the country need to be able to work as well with that diversity of faith and culture." 'Vital improvements' Jason Shannon, lead medical examiner for Wales, told Sky News he recognised “the importance of a seamless, accurate and timely death certification process”. “Medical examiners are one part of the wider death certification process and were introduced to give additional independent safeguards as well as to give bereaved people a voice, which they hadn’t had before,” he added. "Medical examiners have no role in determining where the body of a family’s relative is cared for and except in a minority of deaths where a coroner needs to be involved, that decision should be one that a family is fully empowered to make in a way that is best for them." A Welsh government spokesperson said they "would like to apologise to any families who have experienced delays in receiving death certificates". The government said it was working with the lead medical examiner and the NHS in Wales "to understand where the delays are" and how to provide bereaved families with "additional support". Read more from Sky News:Families feel impact of spiralling funeral costsCalls for funeral sector to be regulated A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said it recognised there were "some regional variations in how long it takes to register a death". They added that the changes to the death certification process "support vital improvements to patient safety and aim to provide comfort and clarity to the bereaved".

The US president's past confidence he could do a quick deal to end the conflict has proved to be misplaced, and now his administration has floated the prospect of abandoning its efforts to broker one. US threatens to abandon peace talks - latest updates Mr Trump's secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said the White House is prepared to "move on", with little sign of fighting coming to an end some two months after talks began with Vladimir Putin. Negotiations have since taken place with both Kyiv and Moscow, the latter of which Mr Trump has been accused of being soft on, but the war has continued well beyond its three-year anniversary. Asked what it will take to secure a deal, Mr Trump told reporters at the White House he needed to see "enthusiasm" from both sides. "I think I see it," he added. "It's coming to a head right now." 'I know when people are playing us' Mr Trump dismissed the idea he was being played by Mr Putin, saying: "Nobody is playing me. I'm trying to help." "My whole life has been one big negotiation and I know when people are playing us and when they're not," he added. Nonetheless, Sky News' Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett said the White House raising the spectre of walking away from peace talks showed Mr Trump was frustrated by the lack of progress. Before winning last November's presidential election, he infamously claimed he could end the war in a day. Echoing Mr Rubio, he's now said "we're just going to take a pass" if Russia or Ukraine "makes it very difficult". Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov insisted progress towards a deal had been made, but acknowledged the "complicated" situation was "not an easy one" to solve. A 30-day moratorium on striking energy infrastructure targets was previously agreed, but both sides have since accused one another of breaching it. Russia has also continued to launch deadly airstrikes on civilian infrastructure - the bloodiest of the more recent attacks saw at least 35 people killed in Sumy. Kyiv and its European allies have said the continued attacks show Russia is not serious about peace. Read more from Sky News:Godfather-style gang war grips ScotlandHow Israel's attack on aid workers unfolded Looking ahead, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy has indicated a "memorandum of intent" on a much vaunted US minerals deal could soon be signed. Mr Trump wants to profit from the country's natural resources in what he says is repayment for military aid. It's hoped America having a stake in the country could also help maintain any truce. The deal was due to be done weeks ago but was derailed by his falling out with Mr Trump at the White House. 👉 Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app 👈 More meetings are also expected among the so-called coalition of the willing, assembled by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron to help police any peace deal. Sir Keir spoke with Mr Trump on the phone on Saturday, with ending the Ukraine war a topic of conversation.

But if they did, they may be heartened by some of what they hear. Take the interview Kemi Badenoch gave to the TRIGGERnometry show in February. Ten minutes into the episode, one of the hosts recounts a conversation with a Tory MP who said the party lost the last election to the Lib Dems because they went too far to the right. Everyone laughs. Then in March, in a conversation with the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, the Tory leader was asked to describe a Liberal Democrat. "Somebody who is good at fixing their church roof," said Ms Badenoch. She meant it as a negative. Lib Dems now mention it every time you go near any of them with a TV camera. The pitch is clear, the stunts are naff At times, party figures seem somewhat astonished the Tories don't view them as more of a threat, given they were beaten by them in swathes of their traditional heartlands last year. Going forward, the pitch is clear. Sir Ed Davey wants to replace the Tories as the party of middle England. One way he's trying to do that is through somewhat naff and very much twee campaign stunts. To open this local election race, the Lib Dem leader straddled a hobbyhorse and galloped through a blue fence. More recently, he's brandished a sausage, hopped aboard a rollercoaster and planted wildflowers. Senior Lib Dems say they are "constantly asking" whether this is the correct strategy, especially given the hardship being faced by many in the country. They maintain it is helping get their message out though, according to the evidence they have. "I think you can take the issues that matter to voters seriously while not taking yourself too seriously, and I also think it's a way of engaging people who are turned off by politics," said Sir Ed. 'What if people don't want grown-ups?' In that way, the Lib Dems are fishing in a similar pool of voters to Reform UK, albeit from the other side of the water's edge. Indeed, talk to Lib Dem MPs, and they say while some Reform supporters they meet would never vote for a party with the word "liberal" in its name, others are motivated more by generalised anger than any traditional political ideology. These people, the MPs say, can be persuaded. But this group also shows a broader risk to the Lib Dem approach. Put simply, are they simply too nice for the fractured times we live in? "The Lib Dems want to be the grown-ups in the room," says Joe Twyman, director of Delta Poll. "We like to think that the grown-ups in the room will be rewarded… but what if people don't want grown-ups in the room, what if people want kids shitting on the floor?" A plan that looks different to the status quo The party's answer to this is that they are alive to the trap Lib Dems have walked into in the past of adopting a technocratic tone and blandly telling the public every issue is a "bit more complicated" than it seems. One senior figure says the Lib Dems are trying to do something quite unusual for a progressive centre-left party in making a broader emotional argument about why the public should pick them. This source says that approach runs through the stunts but also through the focus on care and the party leader's personal connection to the issue. Presenting a plan that looks different to the status quo is another way to try to stand apart. It's why there has been a focus on attacking Donald Trump and talking up the EU recently, two areas left unoccupied by the main parties. The focus on local campaigning But beyond the national strategy, Lib Dems believe it's their local campaigning that really reaps rewards. In the run-up to the last election, several more regional press officers were recruited. Many stories pumped out by the media office now have a focus on data that can be broken down to a constituency level and given to local news outlets. Party sources say there has also been a concerted attempt to get away from the cliche of the Lib Dems constantly calling for parliament to be recalled. "They beat us to it," said one staffer of the recent recall to debate British Steel. 'Gail's bakery rule' This focus on the local is helped by the fact many Lib Dem constituencies now look somewhat similar. That was evidenced by the apparent "Gail's bakery rule" last year, in which any constituency with a branch of the upmarket pastry purveyor had activists heaped on it. The similarities have helped the Lib Dems get away from another cliche - that of the somewhat opportunist targeting of different areas with very different messages. "There is a certain consistency in where we won that helps explain that higher vote retention," said Lib Dem president Lord Pack. "Look at leaflets in different constituencies [last year] and they were much more consistent than previous elections… the messages are fundamentally the same in a way that was not always the case in the past." A bottom-up campaign machine New MPs have also been tasked with demonstrating delivery and focusing doggedly on the issues that matter to their constituents. One Home Counties MP says he wants to be able to send out leaflets by 2027, saying "everyone in this constituency knows someone who has been helped by their local Lib Dem". In the run-up to last year's vote, strategists gave the example of the Lib Dem candidate who was invited to a local ribbon-cutting ceremony in place of the sitting Tory MP as proof of how the party can ingratiate itself into communities. With that in mind, the aim for these local elections is to pick up councillors in the places the party now has new MPs, allowing them to dig in further and keep building a bottom-up campaign machine. 'Anyone but Labour or Conservative' But what of the next general election? Senior Lib Dems are confident of holding their current 72 seats. They also point to the fact 20 of their 27 second-place finishes currently have a Conservative MP. Those will be the main focus, along with the 43 seats in which they finished third. There's also an acronym brewing to describe the approach - ABLOC or "Anyone but Labour or Conservative". 9% swing could make Sir Ed leader of the opposition The hope is for the political forces to align and Reform UK to continue splitting the Tory vote while unpopularity with the Labour government and Conservative opposition triggers some to jump ship. A recent pamphlet by Lord Pack showed if the Tories did not make progress against the other parties, just 25 gains from them by the Lib Dems - the equivalent of a 9% swing - would be enough to make Sir Ed leader of the opposition. What's more, a majority of these seats would be in the South East and South West, where the party has already picked up big wins. As for the overall aim of all this, Lord Pack is candid the Lib Dems shouldn't view a hung parliament as the best way to achieve the big prize of electoral reform because they almost always end badly for the smaller party. Instead, the Lib Dem president suggests the potential fragmentation of politics could bring electoral reform closer in a more natural way. "What percentage share of the vote is the most popular party going to get at the next general election, it's quite plausible that that will be under 30%. Our political system can't cope with that sort of world," he said. Whether Ms Badenoch will still be laughing then remains to be seen. This is part of a series of local election previews with the five major parties. All five have been invited to take part.

Some 21 humanoid robots raced alongside thousands of runners around the 21km (13-mile) course in Beijing, China, on Saturday. Some of the robots that took part were as short as 3ft 9in, while others were as tall as 5ft 9in. They had to resemble humans and be able to walk or run - wheels were not allowed. 'I don't want to boast, but...' The winning robot was Tiangong Ultra, which crossed the finishing line with a time of two hours and 40 minutes, while the men's winner of the race had a time of one hour and two minutes. Tang Jian, chief technology officer for the creator of the robot, the Beijing Innovation Center of Human Robotics, said its performance was aided by long legs and an algorithm allowing it to imitate how humans run a marathon. "I don't want to boast, but I think no other robotics firms in the West have matched Tiangong's sporting achievements," he said. He added that the robot's battery was changed just three times during the race. One robot fell at the starting line and lay on the ground for a few minutes before getting up and joining the race, while another crashed into a railing, causing its human operator to fall over. Read more:How Japan could shape the future of the NHSPlanet K2-18b may be teeming with microbial lifeScientists create lab-grown chunks of chicken The robots were accompanied by human trainers, with some physically supporting the machines during the race. Several of the robots wore running shoes, with one donning boxing loves and another wearing a red headband saying "Bound to Win" in Chinese. China has dozens of robot companies and while some produce humanoid robots, others create robotic dogs. Last year China's People's Liberation Army was shown using robodogs firing weapons from their backs during training exercises.

There have been reports that Sir Keir Starmer's government is looking into deporting illegal migrants to the Balkans. According to The Times, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper met the UN's high commissioner for refugees last month to discuss the idea. It would see the government pay countries in the Balkans to take failed asylum seekers - a prospect ministers hope might discourage people from crossing the Channel in small boats. A total of 9,099 migrants have made that journey so far this year, including more than 700 on Tuesday this week - the highest number on a single day in 2025. One migrant died while trying to make the crossing on Friday. The UN's refugee agency has set out how such hubs could work while meeting its legal standards in a document published earlier this week. It recommended monitoring the hubs to make sure human rights standards are "reliably met". The country hosting the return hub would need to grant temporary legal status for migrants, and the country sending the failed asylum seekers would need to support it to make sure there are "adequate accommodation and reception arrangements". A UK government source said it was a helpful intervention that could make the legal pathway to some form of return hub model smoother. Read more from Sky News:How Japan could shape future of NHSCan the Lib Dems secure election success? It comes after the EU Commission proposed allowing EU members to set up so-called "return hubs" abroad, with member state Italy having already started sending illegal migrants abroad. It sends people with no right to remain to Italian-run detention centres in Albania, something Sir Keir has taken an interest in since coming to power. With Reform UK leading Labour in several opinion polls this year, the prime minister has been talking tough on immigration - but the figures around Channel crossings have made for difficult reading.

More than 5,800 teachers were polled as part of the survey by the NASUWT teaching union, and nearly three in five (59%) of teachers said they believe social media use has contributed to a deterioration in pupils' behaviour. The findings have been published during the union's annual conference, which is taking place in Liverpool this weekend. One motion that is set to be debated at the conference calls on the union's executive to work with teachers "to assess the risk that far-right and populist movements pose to young people". Andrew Tate was referenced by a number of teachers who took part in the survey, who said he had negative influence on male pupils. One teacher said she'd had 10-year-old boys "refuse to speak to [her]...because [she is] a woman". Another teacher said "the Andrew Tate phenomena had a huge impact on how [pupils at an all-boys school] interacted with females and males they did not see as 'masculine'". While another respondent to the survey said their school had experienced some incidents of "derogatory language towards female staff...as a direct result of Andrew Tate videos". 'Even adults can get dangerously addicted' Last month, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hosted a discussion in Downing Street on how to prevent young boys from being dragged into a "whirlpool of hatred and misogyny". The talks were with the creators of Netflix drama Adolescence, which explored so-called incel culture. It comes as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch revealed her young cousin killed themselves after falling down an "internet rabbit hole" - and she worries "a lot about social media". She told the Daily Mail: "It's heartbreaking. My views about the dangers of social media are not just about children. I know even as adults we can get dangerously addicted." The Conservatives have been arguing for a ban on mobile phones in schools over concerns about the impact of social media on children. Read more from Sky News:Former Rochdale footballer dies aged 36Two Britons among four killed in cable car crash 'An urgent need for action' Patrick Roach, the teaching union's general secretary, said teachers "cannot be left alone to deal with these problems". "There is an urgent need for concerted action involving schools, colleges and other agencies to safeguard all children and young people from the dangerous influence of far-right populists and extremists," he added. 👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈 A spokesperson for the Department for Education (DfE) said: "Education can be the antidote to hate, and the classroom should be a safe environment for sensitive topics to be discussed and where critical thinking is encouraged. "That's why we provide a range of resources to support teachers to navigate these challenging issues, and why our curriculum review will look at the skills children need to thrive in a fast-changing online world."

Wes Streeting has said he's interested in the idea of "health MOTs" for Britain's older citizens, evoking how the Asian island nation relies on personalised medical plans for its ageing population. Japan combines genomics and AI machine learning to offer hyper-bespoke programmes for individuals, helping to predict and prevent illnesses before they really take hold. Mr Streeting said such an approach could be a "game-changer" in the UK, as he prepares to publish his 10-year plan for the health service later in 2025. He has repeatedly spoken about his desire to move more of the NHS's work out of hospitals and into local communities, focusing more on preventative care than more expensive and invasive emergency treatment. Last year, NHS England - which is due to be scrapped - announced patients over 65 or those with frailty-related conditions would be given health MOTs outside emergency departments to avoid unnecessary admissions. The tests checked for blood pressure, heart health and mobility. Read more from Sky News:Why families face agonising funeral delays'Andrew Tate phenomena' sweeping schools 'A lot of opportunity' Speaking to The Telegraph, the minister said Japan was an "interesting" case study to follow because it's got a "very significant ageing society". Japan's population has been shrinking and growing older for decades as young people delay marriage and having children largely due to unstable jobs and economic difficulties. A 2023 survey found more than 1 in 10 people in Japan were aged 80 or older for the first time. Mr Streeting has reportedly been briefed by an ex-Japanese health official about the country's health programmes. He told The Telegraph while the NHS faced "enormous challenges", he believed advances in technology - notably around artificial intelligence - offered "a lot of opportunity and hope". He said he hoped personalised programmes like Japan's could eventually be offered to everyone in the UK.

Chris Van Hollen added that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported from the US last month, told him he has been moved from a notorious high-security prison in El Salvador to a detention centre with better conditions. The deportation of Mr Garcia has become a flashpoint in the US, with Democrats casting it as a cruel consequence of Donald Trump's disregard for the courts, while Republicans have criticised Democrats for defending him and argued his deportation is part of a larger effort to reduce crime. Mr Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland, is being detained in the Central American country despite the US Supreme Court calling on the White House to facilitate his return home. Trump officials have said Mr Garcia has ties to the violent MS-13 gang. However, Mr Garcia's attorneys say the government has provided no evidence, and he has never been charged with any crime related to such activity. Mr Van Hollen flew to El Salvador and met with Mr Garcia this week in an effort to help secure his return to America. Speaking to reporters at Washington Dulles International airport after returning to the US on Friday, Mr Van Hollen said: "As the federal courts have said, we need to bring Mr Abrego Garcia home to protect his constitutional rights to due process. And it's also important that people understand this case is not just about one man. "It's about protecting the constitutional rights of everybody who resides in the United States of America." Mr Van Hollen added the Trump administration is "asserting a right to stash away residents of this country" in foreign prisons "without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order". The senator also revealed Mr Garcia was brought from a detention centre to his hotel after initial requests to meet or speak with him were denied. Mr Van Hollen said Mr Garcia told him he was "traumatised" after being detained at El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison, but he had been moved to a "different facility" with better conditions nine days ago. The senator said Mr Garcia told him he was worried about his family and that thinking about them was giving him "the strength to persevere" and to "keep going" under awful circumstances. Mr Garcia's wife, Jennifer, was at the news conference and wiped away tears as Mr Van Hollen spoke of her husband's desire to speak to her. Earlier, Mr Van Hollen had posted photos of himself meeting with Mr Garcia. It came before El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele shared his own images of the meeting, which he claimed showed the pair "sipping margaritas" in the "tropical paradise of El Salvador". In an apparent sarcastic remark, Mr Bukele wrote that Mr Garcia had "miraculously risen" from the "death camps". Giving an account of what he says happened when the photos were taken, Mr Van Hollen said: "We just had glasses of water on the table. I think maybe some coffee. "And as we were talking, one of the government people came over and deposited two other glasses on the table with ice. And I don't know if it was salt or sugar round the top, but they looked like margaritas. "If you look at the one they put in front of Kilmer, it actually had a little less liquid than the one in me in front of me to try to make it look, I assume like he drank out of it. "Let me just be very clear. Neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us." He added that people can tell he is telling the truth because if someone had sipped from one of the glass there would be a "gap" where the "salt or sugar" had disappeared. Mr Van Hollen said the image shows the "lengths" the El Salvadorian president will go to "deceive people about what's going on". "It also shows the lengths that the Trump administration and [President Trump] will go to, because when he was asked by a reporter about this, he just went along for the ride."

The government said pub licensing hours will be relaxed on 8 May to raise a glass and celebrate those who served in the war. Pubs and bars across the UK will be able to keep serving until 1am after the two hour extension, which will mark the end of four days of celebrations. Parties are being planned for the day, 80 years after the Allies' formal acceptance of Germany's unconditional surrender, marking the end of all German military operations in Europe on 8 May 1945. Sir Keir Starmer said: "As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the whole country should come together to remember the incredible sacrifices made by the wartime generation and to celebrate the peace and freedom they secured for us all. "Keeping our pubs open for longer will give people the opportunity to join in celebrations and raise a glass to all of the men and women who served their country, both overseas and at home." Pub licensing hours can be relaxed by the home secretary to mark occasions of "exceptional national significance", with extensions previously approved for major royal celebrations and significant sporting events, such as the Euro 2024 final. VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day, commemorations will begin on the 5 May bank holiday Monday, when there will be a military procession from Whitehall to Buckingham Palace and an RAF flypast over London. On 8 May, when the pub hour extension will come in, there are parties planned across the UK, culminating in 10,000 members of the public attending a televised celebration on London's Horse Guards Parade, where performances by stars of the stage and screen will take place. There will also be a VE Day tea party on 8 May at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, bringing together the largest gathering of Second World War veterans. Read more: What celebrations are planned for VE Day? The hospitality industry has welcomed the hours' extension, with Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, saying it will give pubs and bars "a much-needed boost while paying tribute to our shared history". Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, said many people will be gathering in their local pubs to mark the special occasion and she is "pleased" the government is extending licensing hours.

They say hundreds are still missing after a motorised wooden boat caught fire and capsized on Tuesday in the Congo River. The number of dead had previously been estimated at 50. On Friday, senator Jean-Paul Boketsu Bofili of Equateur province said 500 people were on board, adding: "As we speak, more than 150 survivors suffering from third-degree burns are without humanitarian assistance." The fire started as a woman was cooking on board the boat, said Competent Loyoko, the river commissioner. Several passengers, including women and children, died after jumping into the water without being able to swim, officials said. About 100 survivors were taken to an improvised shelter at the local town hall, while those with burn injuries were taken to local hospitals. Read more:Dozens reportedly killed in US airstrikes against Houthi rebelsBritish man, 27, dies after avalanche at French Alps ski resort The boat, called HB Kongolo, caught fire near the northwestern town of Mbandaka, having left the port of Matankumu for the Bolomba territory. Deadly boat accidents are common in the central African country, where late-night travels and overcrowded vessels are often blamed and authorities have struggled to enforce maritime regulations. Hundreds have been killed in boat accidents in recent years as more people abandon the few available roads for wooden vessels packed with passengers and their goods. The country's rivers are a major means of transport for its more than 100 million people, especially in remote areas where infrastructure is poor.