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KIGALI, March 27 (Reuters) - At least three people were killed and about 20 feared drowned after a passenger ferry sunk on Lake Kivu in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, rebel sources said on Wednesday.

Officials from the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma), the rebel authority that administers the region, said the MV Tihinyabuguma sank on Tuesday morning at Ndalangwa, a small port on an island in the centre of the lake.

"The boat, which was empty of cargo, docked to load," Jean-Pierre Lola-Kisanga, RCD spokesman told Reuters. He said the boat, which came out of the shipyard just four or five months ago, relied on cargo in the hold to give it stability.

"The passengers on board wanted to get off to buy pineapples and when they all rushed over to one side of the vessel it keeled over," he said.

He said Rwandan military speedboats rescued three bodies and 72 survivors from the lake. Lake Kivu spans the Congo-Rwanda border. Twelve survivors had been injured.

Survivors said about 20 more passengers were unaccounted for, presumed dead either on the ferry or trapped underneath it.

"Rescue operations are continuing but there is no hope of finding any more survivors," Lola-Kisanga said.

In May last year, a passenger ferry capsized in heavy rain in Goma's Lake Kivu harbour, killing at least 43 people.

Ferries are popular on central Africa's lakes because they are cheaper than road transport, but several have sunk in recent years due to overloading or bad weather.