ZANZIBAR: At least 12 people perished and scores were still missing yesterday after a ferry capsized between the Tanzanian mainland and Zanzibar, government officials said.
The vessel, which was carrying almost 290 passengers and crew, including more than 30 children, went down in choppy waters between the Tanzanian commercial capital Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar.
"Twelve dead bodies and 10 surivors have been recovered so far. Rescue operations continue in bad weather," State Minister in the Zanzibari president's office, Mwinyihaji Makame, told journalists.
Saidi Shabaani, an official in the second vice president's office, said the ferry was carrying 251 adults, 31 children and six crew, according to the passenger list, when the accident occurred at around 0930 GMT.
"This is another tragedy we are investigating. A rescue team from the police and navy have rushed to the scene," Shaabani told AFP.
Tanzanian state television reported that the ferry, which was also carrying cargo, had sunk completely.
Ferries in the region very often carry additional passengers who do not feature on the list.
There were no immediate reports about whether any foreign nationals were missing, but Zanzibar is a major tourist destination.
The accident took place off Kwale Island, just a few kilometers from the coast of the main Zanzibar island, according to an employee at another nearby island, Chumbe, that is home to a private reserve and an eco lodge.
"Rescue operations are going on," he told AFP, saying rescue teams had sailed past Chumbe.
Lawmakers meeting in Tanzania's administrative capital Dodoma suspended their session so that Interior Minister Emmanuel Nchimbi could supervise the rescue operation.
More than 200 people perished in September when the ferry Spice Islander capsized while sailing between two of the three main islands that make up Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in one of the worst maritime disasters in Africa in the past decade.
The September disaster is believed to have been caused by overloading, with some angry survivors accusing port and ferry officials of having ignored the protests of passengers that the boat was overcrowded.
Zanzibar is famed both for its white-sand beach resorts and for Stone Town, the old quarter of Zanzibar, which is a UNESCO heritage site.
12 dead, scores missing as ferry sinks off Zanzibar
