More than 100 people died after a fishing boat sank off the northern coast of Mozambique and at least 20 were still missing, President Filipe Nyusi confirmed on Monday, April 8. According to authorities, the passengers were fleeing a cholera outbreak.
First modification:
4 min
Mozambique authorities reported this Monday, April 8, that at least 100 people died in the capsizing of a ferry off the coast of the northern province of Nampula.
An official from the country's Maritime Transport Institute (Intrasmar) indicated that the vessel, which was carrying 130 passengers, is a fishing boat that was overloaded and did not have a license to transport people.
On Sunday he was taking a group of people from Lunga, in Nampula province, to the island of Mozambique, Lourenco Machado, administrator of Intrasmar, said on state television.
The passengers were fleeing a cholera outbreak, according to a statement from the Office of the Secretary of State of Nampula Province, detailing that 10 people had been rescued and almost 20 more were still missing.
President Nyusi lamented the tragedy and ordered the Ministry of Transport to visit the island for an investigation.
I received with deep sadness the news of the shipwreck of a ship leaving the Lungo Administrative Post, in the Mossuril District, bound for Nacala, which caused the death of more than one citizen. pic.twitter.com/jg92o2F2GA
— President Filipe Nyusi (@filipe_nyusi) April 8, 2024
“The Government of Mozambique will meet tomorrow to assess the situation and take the necessary measures to minimize the impact of this incident,” his office said.
Videos obtained by Reuters showed many bodies lying on a beach and some people carrying the bodies of children.
It didn't have capacity for that many people.
The administrator of the island of Mozambique (in whose waters the tragedy occurred), Silvério Nuaito, indicated that the fishing boat was transporting 130 passengers from the Lunga administrative post, in the Mossuril district, to the island of Mozambique.
Nuaito confirmed that the ship did not have the capacity to transport so many people, which They sought to flee the area due to outbreaks of acute diarrhea that wreak havoc on the population.affected by cholera.
“People show symptoms and three minutes later they are already dying. That's why they went to look for this ship to see if it could transport people to the island of Mozambique,” explained the administrator.
The search for the missing continues and, in the words of Nuaito, “it is not easy to say precisely how many” there are.
The provincial government stated in a statement that it regrets the loss of life and stands in solidarity with the families affected by the tragedy.
“The maritime and administrative authorities remain committed to identifying the bodies and locating their relatives, as well as assisting the survivors,” the provincial executive said in the note, published in local media.
In a message posted on his Facebook page, the former president of Mozambique Armando Guebuza (2005-2015) declared himself “deeply saddened” by the accident and sent his “deepest condolences to the bereaved families.”
The leader of the main opposition party, the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), Ossufo Momade, also expressed his sadness over the disaster on Facebook and demanded that the Government “declare national mourning and that this moment be recognized by the authorities as another example of negligence and lack of public safety.”
The Secretary of State of Nampula, Jaime Neto, already reported the sinking late on Sunday.
“It was a small boat that was carrying 130 passengers. The boat did not have the capacity to transport these people and it sank,” Neto said.
Panic over cholera outbreak
According to Neto, the victims were trying to escape the area due to panic caused by misinformation about a cholera outbreak.
The East African country has recorded 14,877 cases of the disease and 32 deaths since last October, according to the latest figures published by the Government.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Mozambique is currently suffering its “largest cholera outbreak in 25 years.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned last February of a serious spike in cholera cases this January in ten countries in eastern and southern Africa, and that there is a notable risk that the disease will spread further causing a epidemic.
The most affected countries are Zambia and Zimbabwe, while Mozambique, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Nigeria have reported active outbreaks of cholera, with a total of 26,000 cases and 700 deaths.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacteria “Vibrio cholerae.”
With Reuters and EFE
