THE TANZANIAN island of Zanzibar began three days of mourning yesterday following the worst ferry disaster in the region’s history.
At least 197 people died and another 100 are reported missing, officials said, after a ferry, the MV Spice Islander, capsized during a trip between Zanzibar's main islands of Unguja and Pemba on Saturday morning.
Another 613 survived, many by clinging to foam mattresses and wooden planks, said Ubwa Sulamein, Zanzibar co-ordinator of the Tanzanian Red Cross Society. However many were trapped in cabins below and were unlikely to be found alive, he added.
"The ship's light went out before it sank at about 3am, 30km from the coast, which made the rescue effort very difficult because it was pitch black," he told The Irish Times. "Many people managed to cling to debris but because the majority of the missing are thought to have been in cabins below deck, the chances of finding any more survivors is very slim."
The government of the semi-autonomous island said it was launching an investigation into the tragedy, following claims by survivors that the ferry was overloaded. The ship was licensed to carry 600 people but was carrying more than 800, they said.
“The government is holding the chief engineer for questioning in order to gather details,” said Mohammed Aboud Mohammed, the minister for state in the vice-president’s office on the island.
“The captain of the ferry is still missing and the government doesn’t know precisely the owner of the ferry.”
After beginning its journey in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam, the Spice Islandersailed to Zanzibar loaded with passengers, mattresses and building materials. It docked in Unguja, the largest island in the Zanzibar Archipelago, before setting sail with more passengers and cargo for the smaller island of Pemba, a popular diving destination. However some disembarked, according to witness reports, when the ship began to list to the side.
Mr Aboud said that the rescue effort was continuing with assistance from South African navy divers.
Zanzibar’s president Ali Mohamed Shein will lead special prayers tonight for the dead at the Maisara grounds in Stone town, the main city in Zanzibar, where the bodies of the dead were placed on Saturday before burial.
Overloading of ships is a common problem in many parts of Africa. Following a spate of accidents on rivers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country’s transport minister was sacked in May after more than 100 people died on the Kasai, a tributary of the Congo.
Tanzania's worst boat accident came in 1996, when 894 people died after the MV Bukobasank in Lake Victoria.