The African Union, Portugal and Brazil convey their condolences to the Government and people of Mozambique
April 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The death toll from the shipwreck this Sunday of a boat off the coast of northern Mozambique, in the province of Nampula, has increased to 98 people, although this is a preliminary toll.
The search for survivors continues more than 24 hours after the accident, while funerals are already being held for the bodies that have been recovered, according to sources consulted by the Mozambican news agency AIM.
The incident took place when a boat with a fishing license was hit by a wave. The boat was carrying more than 130 people, most of them women and children, for a journey lasting between four and six hours, who were supposedly fleeing a cholera outbreak that is ravaging the region.
The president of the African country, Filipe Nyusi, has regretted the events and has indicated that he has sent a government delegation to provide help to the survivors and to carry out an investigation with the aim of evaluating the reasons that gave rise to this tragedy. .
For his part, the leader of the opposition Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), Ossufo Momade, has demanded that the Government declare national mourning and that the authorities “recognize that this is a sign of public negligence and lack of security.”
“We were very moved and concerned to learn that the boat in question was a fishing boat and was not designed to transport people, which led us to reflect on the need for maritime security and solidarity,” he indicated through his online profile. social Facebook.
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MESSAGES
The president of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has conveyed his condolences “to the Government and people of Mozambique following the tragic boat accident off the coast of Nampula province that claimed more than 90 lives.”
For his part, the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has sent his counterpart from Mozambique – which was a Portuguese colony – “a message of heartfelt condolences and a word of consolation and solidarity to the families of the numerous victims of the sinking. “, as well as “to all those affected by this tragic accident.
The Brazilian Government has also expressed its “solidarity with the human losses recorded”, regretting the shipwreck “in a well-known tourist destination and world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)” .
