163 Dead After Tanzania Ferry Sinks, More Than 100 Still Missing
- Posted on September 10, 2011 at 9:01am by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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Survivors cling together in the water (Photo credit: BBC/Whirlwind Aviation)
STONE TOWN, Tanzania (The Blaze/AP) — At least 163 people are dead and after an overloaded ferry carrying more than 500 people on board sank off the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar.
More than 100 people are still missing, according to the BBC, but 325 survivors have been rescued. Bodies are washing up on shore.
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.
“I realized something strange on the movement of the ship. It was like zigzag or dizziness,” said 15-year-old Yahya Hussein, who survived by clinging to a plank of wood with three others. “After I noticed that I jumped to the rear side of ship and few minutes later the ship went lopsided.”
Hussein said there had been many children aboard the ship.
After the ship began to list, water rushed through the main cabin and stopped the engines, said Mwita Massoud, another survivor.
The BBC reported:
Local helicopter pilot Captain Neels van Eijk flew over the disaster area.
“We found the survivors holding onto mattresses and fridges and anything that could float. It’s hard to tell the exact numbers, but I’d say there were more than 200 survivors in the water and some bodies too,” he told the BBC.
“By then, there were a few boats that had made their way out. They were looking for survivors, but although the sea wasn’t so rough, the waves were high so it was difficult for them to spot them.
“We flew to the boats and guided them to the survivors so that they could pick them up. There were also quite a few bodies in the water.”
Those rescued were brought back to the main harbour in Stone Town. (Photo credit: BBC/AFP)
“We appeal for calm to the public. The government is doing its best it can to handle the situation. There is no need to panic,” said Mohammed Aboud Mohammed, the minister for state in the vice president’s office.
In the hours after the sinking, the government strongly discouraged journalists from reporting the event and tried to restrict information about the accident.
The green and hilly island of Pemba is often described as one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world. Tanzania is heavily reliant on tourism to support its economy.
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. All the shops were closed.
Many of those present expressed anger that the ship had been allowed to leave port so overloaded and called on government officials to resign. They said the island should have divers and rescue boats, but it only has a small vessel to try to stop smuggling.
In 2006, another ship capsized at the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, claiming hundreds of lives.
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TomFerrari
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:46pmReminds me of the Reno, NV Amtrak train crash in June, where the truck ran into the train…
More than TWO DOZEN people were never accounted for.
Now, with all the lawsuits that will certainly ensue, I wonder why people would just “disappear”?
Report Post »- – -
And piling hundreds of people on a ferry that cannot handle the load??? Desperate and/or foolish.
Sad loss of life, regardless of the conditions.
.
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chips1
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 5:39pmDoesn’t this happen at least once a year? Maybe it’s just an African ritual. I’m against the U.S. sending troops.
Report Post »whatthecrazy
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 4:56pmHey right next to obamas homeland with any luck he was on it
Report Post »DisillusionedDaily
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 3:25pmCommercial watercraft in most parts of Africa usually embark on their journeys in an overloaded condition. Just last month an overloaded ferry sank in Lake Tangganyika, near the Republic of Congo with a loss of about 70 people. Any boat setting off on a journey, not just going out and back to the same port, will be overloaded because the operator will take as many passengers as the craft can hold, as long as they can pay. The governments have safety rules, rarely enforced, but the operators routinely ignore the rules. Parts of Asia have the same problems, especially Indonesia and the Phillipines.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:35pmWhile our “representatives”sign international maritime treaties that are so stringent, that many antique paddlewheel boats had to be permanently retired, because of a politician’s failure to protect the rights of our people, but sought to enslave America to the bonds of other nations.
Report Post »Remaining antique paddlewheel boats can no longer take passengers on overnight trips, due to that foolish treaty.
commoncents5
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 11:43amIt is good that there were some people that saw that the ferry was overloaded and did not board it.
Report Post »God is there for us but we have to use the knowledge that He provides us to discern certain situations. This is a tragic error in judgement for all involved.
As for slavery the Hebrews were used in hard labor for building the pharoh’s cities in Egypt for 400 years which was foretold to Abraham in Gen 15:13. Egypt will always be a base nation and not the great one that it was known for since that time. So slavery is not something new. Ungodly men create bondage and I don’t know about you but I am tired of paying for ungodly men in this country….let us move forward…as long as people allow themselves to be manipulated and brain washed…there will never be healing. You could say that from day one there has always been captivity,freedom,captivity,freedom….It is a work in progress to stay free!
poverty.sucks
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 11:16amAre you Saved? If you were on a Ferry overloaded with Islamic people and it sank of the coast of Zanzibar, would you go to Heaven?
http://www.PeaceWithGod.Jesus.Net
Report Post »RobertBo
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 10:01amYes and No. As Christians we believe you must be baptized and then live a moral life dictated by the 10 commandments. I believe that all that have died will be in a place called paradise and wait for judgement day. While waiting for judgement day all will have the opportunity to accept Christ as your savior.
Report Post »The Infidel Alliance
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 10:42amOf note, Zanzibar was the center of the Islamic slave trade, every bit as hideous or even worse than the western sale trade. Islamic slaves were frequently castrated, turned into eunuchs to better serve their Islamic owners.
Somehow, political correctness ensures that the brutal Islamic slave trade is overlooked, a franchise exclusively of the evil West.
I’ve been to Tanzania. It’s a beautiful country with lovely people. This is very sad. May God bless the victims of this horrible tragedy.
~ The Infidel Alliance
Report Post »kindling
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 1:04pmOf all the different cultures I think the Muslims have consistently remained the most ruthless. There were people all over the world doing HORRIBLE things around the same time the Muslims were starting ….maybe it was a turning point in history and the beginning of the end of sorts. The fact is that all cultures have some pretty bad things to admit happened at their hands, or leaders hands. That is why we are offered a Redeemer.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 10:41amUntil Islams cry out for the hand of Jesus Christ, their hearts will drift like logs in the sea.
Therefore I will pray THEY ask for God and his forgiveness for their sins.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 9:33amGod above please let there be more survivors found alive and reunited with their families.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 10:56amNot for God to have survivors for our liking. The big picture is, from those affected by this tragedy, is that enough for them to ask for the Gospel to take control of their lives.
For example, there’s nothing God or us to do for an alcoholic until he/she stops asking to drink and asks for help.
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 5:28pmSnowleopard: Amen.
Report Post »YepImaConservative
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 9:17amSorry to read about this. Maybe some of the neighboring Somalian Pirates are on the scene on the scene to help….
Report Post »YepImaConservative
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 9:23amLol, what the hell? Hmmmm like Jimmy Two times in Goodfellas:
“I’m gonna go get the papers. Get the papers.”
Report Post »NOTAMUSHROOM
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 9:12am” The government is doing its best it can to handle the situation. There is no need to panic,”
Really? This statement alone strikes terror in my heart!
Report Post »HD Veteran
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:59pmDead injured and dying . . . no reason to panic.
Report Post »