(Image source: BBC)
BY TRACY PFEIFFER
ANCHOR LOGAN TITTLE
More than a hundred people are believed to have drowned after a ferry capsized near the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar.
“A ferry with more than 500 people on board has capsized off the coast of Tanzania. Officials claim more than 300 people are missing. Zanzibar police say as many as 260 passengers have been accounted for. Rescue vessels, along with local fishing boats, are on hand to help rescue survivors and recover bodies.”
A 15-year-old survivor describes how it happened -- on board the ship. The Telegraph has it.
"I realized something strange on the movement of the ship. It was like zigzag or dizziness... After I noticed that I jumped to the rear side of ship and few minutes later the ship went lopsided."
A pilot who responded to the call for help told the BBC there were some rafts and life vests available -- but the majority of survivors were simply floating on anything they could find.
Capt. NEELS VAN EIJK, WHIRLWHIND AVIATION: “We searched for about twenty minutes and just after sunrise we found the survivors. …It looks like there were quite a few, a couple hundred mattresses on board, and I think that’s what saved a lot of lives as well. …Most of the people were clinging onto mattresses, sitting on mattresses, holding onto fridges, plastic pipes, bags of maize -- whatever they could find.”
Later reports put the number on board at 800-- over the boat’s capacity.
China’s Xinhua notes -- ferries in this region of the world have been the subject of scrutiny before.
“Reports said the cause of the accident is due to overload of passengers and cargo, but other reports said technical fault cannot be ruled out at this stage... Maritime accidents are not uncommon in this area due to billowy waves and overloading. Commuters between the two islands complained that the ferries are always in poor condition and overloaded."
