At least 98 people, including children, were killed when a makeshift ferry carrying people reportedly fleeing a cholera outbreak sank off Mozambique’s northern coast, local media reported on Monday.
The ferry with an estimated 130 people on board sank on Sunday after leaving the southeast African coast for the nearby island of Mozambique, leaving at least 11 people hospitalized, state Radio Mozambique quoted the island’s administrator, Silverio Naueito, as saying. I told you.
Most of the dead were recovered on Sunday, but seven more bodies were discovered on Monday, raising the death toll from 91 to 98, Noticias newspaper reported, citing Nauait.
Over 90 killed in ferry crash off Mozambique: officials
Nauaiit told the radio station that maritime authorities were continuing to search for additional survivors, adding: “It is not easy to say exactly how many people are missing.” He said government officials were heading to the accident site on Monday to obtain more accurate information.
Radio Mozambique reported that authorities in Nampula province issued a statement blaming the sinking on “overcrowding and the use of a vessel unsuitable for the transport of passengers.”
This video provided by Mozambique Television shows women mourning their relatives in Nampula, Mozambique, Monday, April 8, 2024. This comes after a makeshift ferry packed with people fleeing a cholera outbreak sank off Mozambique’s northern coast on Sunday, killing at least 98 people. people including children. (Mozambican Television, via AP)
Noticias, one of the country’s main and oldest newspapers, said the vessel was normally used as a fishing boat and that residents of the town of Lunga were trying to evacuate in what they believed was a flare-up of the cholera the country is suffering from. Reported. In the last few months.
They set out “in droves” using boats “unfit for navigation” in hopes of reaching Mozambique, the newspaper said. The boat capsized before reaching the island.
Some people still managed to reach the island’s shores, but they were unable to receive medical care on time and died there, the newspaper said. Mozambique Television, the country’s state-run public broadcaster, said two children’s bodies remained in a morgue without being recovered.
Authorities in Mozambique and neighboring southern African countries are trying to contain a deadly cholera outbreak that has spread in recent months.
Mozambique, one of the world’s poorest countries, has recorded 32 deaths from around 15,000 cholera infections since the end of last year. According to government data, Nampula is the worst-hit province with more than 5,000 cholera cases, including 12 deaths.
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Many areas of Mozambique are only accessible by boat, so they are often crowded. The country’s road network is poor, with some areas inaccessible by land or air.
