Ferry Crash at Zanzibar, 31 Dead
The ferry MV Skagit / Kalama, who had over 250 people on board, had sailed from the coast of East Africa in mid-day to Zanzibar, an archipelago that has a certain autonomy and is a popular destination for tourists.
"A stranger is among the dead. Thirteen other foreigners were rescued and evacuated to a hospital," said a government spokesman, Yusuf Chunda. One hundred and forty-five people have been collected before rescue operations were suspended due to nightfall.
"We have so far received 24 bodies, including two Europeans," said for his part the Minister of Transport, Masoud Hamad Hamada. According Shaabani Saidi, a senior vice-president of Tanzania, the ship's manifest, which also carried freight, contains the names of 251 adults, thirty children and six crew members. It is not uncommon for this type of boat is overloaded and some passengers unregistered.
Zanzibar, with its white sand beaches, derives most of its income from tourism. In September 2011, 203 people died in the sinking of a ferry between islands in the archipelago.
