STONE TOWN: Divers searched on Sunday for any remaining survivors from the capsizing of an overcrowded ferry off the east African coast which killed nearly a quarter of the 800 passengers crammed onboard.
Zanzibar police said overloading probably caused the worst maritime disaster in the history of Zanzibar, Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago and a popular tourist destination.
”According to what we’ve heard so far from survivors, the ship was overloaded with cargo from Dar es Salaam, which included several vehicles, cement and iron rods,” Police Commissioner Mussa Alli Mussa told Reuters.
”Passengers who survived the accident told the police that the ship started taking in water from the cargo hold. That’s when the vessel started to sink,” he said.
Zanzibat minister of state Mohamed Aboud Mohamed told a news conference today the latest death toll from Saturday’s disaster was 197, with 619 survivors. (PTI)
