Mozambique’s Maritime Transport Institute (INTRASMAR) has reported that about 94 people had died, children inclusive, and 26 others missing after an unlicensed ferry boat overturned off the country’s northern coast.
Lourenco Machado, an administrator of INSTRASMAR, had announced on state television on Monday, April 8, that the vessel had been an overloaded fishing boat and had not been licensed to ferry people.
Machado was further quoted as saying:
“On Sunday we registered a maritime incident where at least 94 people loat their life when a barge carrying 130 people capsized. We have recovered 94 bodies but 26 [people] are missing,” he said.
The boat was carruing people from Lunga in Nampula province to Mozambique Island, according to Machado, adding that original reports showed that it was hit by a tidal wave.
A state broadcaster TVM, had alleged that the passengers of the vessel had been fleeing a cholera outbreak.
Jaime Neto, the secretary of state for Nampula province, also corroborated this claim, saying that the passengers were fleeing cholera, according to the British Broadcasting Corp (BBC).
Neto told the BBC, that “because the boat was overcrowded and unsuited to carry passengers, it ended up sinking,” adding that many children were among the dead.
Meanwhile, videos posted on social media X showed several bodies lying on a beach, with some people carrying the bodies of children. The authenticity of these videos could not be immediately verified at the time of filing this report.
Mozambique and other countries in Southern Africa have been fighting cholera outbreaks since last year.
