Ferry carrying more than 500 sinks off Tanzania

ZANZIBAR?? A ferry carrying more than 500 passengers from Zanzibar to Pemba island off the east African country of Tanzania has capsized and scores of people are missing, police said on Saturday.

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Zanzibar, also know as Unguja, and Pemba are the two main islands of the Zanzibar archipelago, a popular destination for tourists visiting their pristine white Indian Ocean beaches.

"The ship's manifest shows that the vessel travelling from Unguja to Pemba islands had more than 500 passengers on board," Zanzibar Police Commissioner Mussa Alli Mussa told Reuters.

"Some 260 passengers have so far been rescued ... we have recovered several bodies but I can't give you the exact death toll at the moment because the situation is very volatile," he said.

The ferry, M.V. Spice Islanders, was heavily overloaded and some potential passengers had refused to board when it was leaving the mainland port of Dar es Salaam, said survivor Abdullah Saied. It sank in an area with heavy currents in deep sea between mainland Tanzania and Pemba Island at about 1 a.m. Saturday.

Pemba is about 25 miles from Zanzibar. Passengers who regularly take ferries between the two islands said the vessels are in a poor state of repair and are often overcrowded and loaded with cargo.

"They normally pack us in like sardines in a can. And for that I really fear this could be a very big disaster," said resident Mwnakhamis Juma.

The government in Zanzibar said last month it planned to invest in bigger, more reliable vessels to ferry passengers between the two islands.

"We are fearing the greatest calamity in the history of Zanzibar. This is a disaster," said a government official, who declined to be named.

Cause of accident unknown
Mussa said rescue workers with the aid of some fishing boats in the area were helping to rescue more passengers and recover bodies to bring them to Zanzibar's main town for post-mortems and identification.

"Because of strong ocean winds, some of the bodies could even be washed up in Tanga (mainland Tanzania)," he said. "The cause of the accident cannot be confirmed at the moment."

Thousands of residents mobbed the docks of Stone Town on Zanzibar, an island near Pemba, waiting for news. One man was screaming that he had lost 25 members of his family, including his sisters, his wife and grandsons. He was too upset to give his name. Many of the crowd were crying or screaming.

Seven bodies have washed up so far, said witness Abdirizak Juma.

Many of those present expressed anger that the ship had been allowed to leave port so overloaded and called on government officials to resign.

The green and hilly island of Pemba is often described as one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world.

A parent in Mkoani on Pemba island was already mourning his three children, who were aboard the vessel capsized MV Spice.

"I had two sons and a daughter coming back to Pemba from a school holiday break ... and I am fearing for the worse," said Juma Bakar.

Two small overloaded boats capsized and were swept away in high seas off Tanzania's coast in January this year and in May 2009, a vessel just off Zanzibar sank with dozens aboard, killing six.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44465501/ns/world_news-africa/

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