
Barco de pesca naufragado meio submerso na Ponta d'Ouro
Maputo, 8 Apr (AIM) – At least 94 people have died following a shipwreck on Sunday evening off the coast of Mozambique Island, in the northern province of Nampula.
According to the Mozambique Island district administrator, Silvério Nauaito, the victims were on board a fishing boat.
He explained that the boat had set off from the Lunga administrative post, on the mainland, and was bound for the Island. It was crowded with people who were fleeing the cholera epidemic that is plaguing this part of Nampula.
“It’s a boat that leaves Lunga for Mozambique Island. It is normally a fishing boat and was not designed to transport people”, said Nauaito.
According to the administrator, speaking to television reporters, the people were leaving Lunga haphazardly, “because there is a diarrhea epidemic (believed to be cholera) there. People get symptoms and three minutes later they’re dying. So they went to look for this boat to see if it could take the people to Mozambique Island.”
Nauaito said that work was still under way on the ground to find out more details
For her part, the maritime administrator, Fahara Luís, who also confirmed the deaths of 91 people, believed that the boat had been hit by giant waves, which was the immediate cause of the tragedy.
More bodies were recovered overnight, and the known death toll now stands at 94.
There were at least ten survivors of the shipwreck. The overcrowded boat was believed to be carrying around 130 people.
(AIM)
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