200 killed as ferry capsizes in Tanzania

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200 killed as ferry capsizes in Tanzania

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The vessel had been sailing from Zanzibar to Pemba, the 2 main islands of the Zanzibar archipelago.

11 September,2011 05:00 pm

Nearly 200 people drowned when an overloaded ferry capsized off east Africa as it sailed from Zanzibar to Pemba island, police said today, Tanzanias worst maritime disaster in at least 15 years.Fishing boats, tour operators and diving instructors spent the night scouring the sea off the coast of Tanzania looking for survivors, many clinging to strewn cargo. One photo showed two men and a child floating on a mattress, clinging to a fridge.Zanzibar police spokesman Mohamed Mhina told an international news agency 192 bodies had been recovered and 606 passengers rescued from the Indian Ocean so far. There is a possibility that more bodies still remain at sea. Rescue workers are still searching for survivors and retrieving bodies, he said. Two tug boats docked at Zanzibars port, one carrying 17 bodies and another with 15 bodies, many of them children.At the northern tip of the island, dozens of soldiers carried bodies onto white sand beaches, where thousands of people anxiously awaited news of survivors.The ferry flipped and capsized. There could be more bodies trapped inside the hull of the ship with the cargo, rescue worker Ali Ramadhan told Reuters at the port. We suspect the ship was overcrowded with more than 800 passengers onboard.Zanzibar police commissioner Mussa Alli Mussa said early today that more than 500 people were on the ships manifest. Abdual Said, registrar of Zanzibars seafaring vessels, said the MV Spice Islander was licensed to carry 600 passengers.The vessel had been sailing from Zanzibar to Pemba, the two main islands of the Zanzibar archipelago, a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania and popular beach destination for tourists.Rescue worker Ramadhan said a lack of equipment was hampering rescue operations. A helicopter helped to rescue some survivors but with the high tide coming in some of the bodies could drift as far as (the Kenyan port city of) Mombasa, Ramadhan said.A stream of military trucks brought in bodies to the Maisara football grounds in Zanzibars main city, where tens of thousands of people gathered to identify the dead. Emergency workers covered bodies in dark blankets and placed the victims clothes on top so relatives could identify them.