38 die, over 100 missing in Zanzibar ferry disaster

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines Friday, July 20th, 2012

A DAY after a ferry sank off the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar, with 38 bodies already recovered, a Zanzibar official yesterday said there was no hope for more than a hundred people still missing.

The vessel, which was officially carrying at least 290 passengers and crew, including more than 30 children, went down in choppy waters off Zanzibar after leaving Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam around midday Wednesday.

But there was now little hope of saving more people, Zanzibar police spokesman Mohamed Mhina said.

“Search operations continue but it is now almost impossible survivors will be found…,” he told reporters.

“The ship has completely sunk. There were 290 people on board,” said Mhina.

“This tragedy affects all of us, and the pain and suffering of those affected is the pain and suffering that we feel,” Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said in a statement.

“We pray that those injured have a speedy recovery,” he added.

Officials, according to Agence France Presse (AFP) said emergency workers had rescued more than 140 people so far, recovering 38 bodies, including at least two Europeans.

It was the second such tragedy in less than a year: last September, more than 200 people died when a ferry sank.

Mhina said that the conditions had hampered rescue operations, forcing a halt overnight.

“The weather was very bad, there were big waves and strong wind,” he added.

Tanzania’s police chief meanwhile arrived in Zanzibar to coordinate operations and launch an investigation.

Mohamed Shein, president of the semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago has already declared three days of mourning.

-via Guardianwp_posts