President Jakaya Kikwete and Zanzibar President Ali Mohamed Shein look at the bodies of children who died when a ferry plying between Zanzibar and Pemba capsized Saturday night.
Some survivors of Nungwi current tragedy are stationed at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital in Zanzibar.
From ISSA YUSSUF in Zanzibar, 10th September 2011 @ 12:44, Total Comments: 0, Hits: 1028
GRIEF reigned across the spice islands of Unguja and Pemba yesterday as their residents tried to come to terms with a fatal dawn marine accident at Nungwi, 72 kilometres from Unguja, which claimed over 180 lives.
The Zanzibar President, Dr Ali Mohamed Shein, who visited the scene of accident and comforted survivors at a Maisara grounds rescue centre in Unguja, announced three days of mourning beginning today, in which flags will fly at half mast.
A State House statement said 180 bodies were recovered by last night and 579 survivors rescued from the accident involving a Pemba-bound Mv Spice Islanders, which sank at around 2 am yesterday. Apparently no foreigner was in the ferry.
Sixty of the survivors were critically injured while 100 others were treated at Mnazi Mmoja hospital in Unguja and released. The statement said the dead would be buried at a common cemetery.
The survivors claimed that the accident was waiting to happen and blamed Malindi port authorities for allowing an overloaded vessel to set off. The figures released so far add up to 759, but extreme estimates say up to 1,000 passengers could have been on board the ferry, whose capacity is suspected to be half the number or lower.
The ferry, which left Malindi harbour at 3 pm on Friday, is believed to have been hit by a strong current at Nungwi. It overturned on one side and started sinking gradually.
Omar Said, one of the survivors, said their calls to reduce the number of passengers or cancel the journey, were ignored by port authorities and the ferry's crew.
''Some people cancelled their booking. The boat started to experience difficulties after 1pm, and began to sink, prompting screaming from scared passengers,'' he said, adding:
''At 2 am the boat came to a standstill and everyone knew it was the end of life. The first rescue team arrived at 7 am, I was floating with a life jacket.''
A Police helicopter was used to locate survivors around the scene of accident, said a member of the rescue team, Mr Ali Shamte. ''Some survivors were floating on mattresses, wood, sacks containing flour and rice and anything else that was afloat.''
President Shein was joined in the mourning by Vice-Presidents Seif Shariff Hamad and Seif Ali Iddi as well as cabinet ministers, political party and religious leaders.
GRIEF reigned across the spice islands of Unguja and Pemba yesterday as their residents tried to come to terms with a fatal dawn marine accident at Nungwi, 72 kilometres from Unguja, which claimed over 180 lives.
The Zanzibar President, Dr Ali Mohamed Shein, who visited the scene of accident and comforted survivors at a Maisara grounds rescue centre in Unguja, announced three days of mourning beginning today, in which flags will fly at half mast.
A State House statement said 180 bodies were recovered by last night and 579 survivors rescued from the accident involving a Pemba-bound Mv Spice Islanders, which sank at around 2 am yesterday. Apparently no foreigner was in the ferry.
Sixty of the survivors were critically injured while 100 others were treated at Mnazi Mmoja hospital in Unguja and released. The statement said the dead would be buried at a common cemetery.
The survivors claimed that the accident was waiting to happen and blamed Malindi port authorities for allowing an overloaded vessel to set off. The figures released so far add up to 759, but extreme estimates say up to 1,000 passengers could have been on board the ferry, whose capacity is suspected to be half the number or lower.
The ferry, which left Malindi harbour at 3 pm on Friday, is believed to have been hit by a strong current at Nungwi. It overturned on one side and started sinking gradually.
Omar Said, one of the survivors, said their calls to reduce the number of passengers or cancel the journey, were ignored by port authorities and the ferry's crew.
''Some people cancelled their booking. The boat started to experience difficulties after 1pm, and began to sink, prompting screaming from scared passengers,'' he said, adding:
''At 2 am the boat came to a standstill and everyone knew it was the end of life. The first rescue team arrived at 7 am, I was floating with a life jacket.''
A Police helicopter was used to locate survivors around the scene of accident, said a member of the rescue team, Mr Ali Shamte. ''Some survivors were floating on mattresses, wood, sacks containing flour and rice and anything else that was afloat.''
President Shein was joined in the mourning by Vice-Presidents Seif Shariff Hamad and Seif Ali Iddi as well as cabinet ministers, political party and religious leaders.
source Daily News
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