Tanzanian ferry sinking claims 127 lives

Boat was dangerously overloaded as it capsized not far from the shore

KAMPALA, UGANDA— Hundreds of solemn people watched Friday as body after body was pulled from a capsized ferry that Tanzanian authorities said was badly overcrowded and upended in the final stretch before reaching shore.

The official death toll was 127 but horrified witnesses feared that would rise as a second day of searching neared an end. President John Magufuli urged calm in the East African country with a history of deadly maritime disasters. And a criminal investigation began.

The MV Nyerere’s capacity was 101 people but the ferry had been overloaded when it capsized Thursday afternoon, the government’s Chief Secretary John Kijazi said.

He said those responsible will face charges.

At least 40 people were rescued, he said, but the number on Friday barely rose.

Dozens of security forces and volunteers wearing gloves and face masks had resumed work at daybreak after suspending efforts overnight, hauling bodies into wooden boats.

“More than 200 people are feared dead,” based on accounts from fishermen and other witnesses, because passengers had been returning from a busy market day, Tanzania Red Cross spokesperson Godfrida Jola said.

Tanzanian ferries often carry hundreds of passengers and are overcrowded, and shifts in weight as people move to dis- embark can become deadly. Images from the scene showed the ferry’s exposed underside not far from shore. The MV Nyerere, named for the former president who led the East African nation to independence, was travelling between the islands of Ukara and Ukerewe when it sank, according to the government agency in charge of servicing the vessels.

Worried residents on Friday waited for any word of survivors.

Accidents are often reported on the large freshwater lake surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Some of the deadliest have occurred in Tanzania, where passenger boats are often said to be old and in poor condition.

In1996, more than 800 people died when passenger and cargo ferry MV Bukoba sank on Lake Victoria.

Nearly 200 people died in 2011 when the MV Spice Islander I sank off Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast near Zanzibar.

TANZANIA RED CROSS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tanzania Red Cross volunteers were busy with rescue efforts on and around Ukara Island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania, on Friday after the passenger ferry MV Nyerere capsized Thursday.