Tanzania: Ferry boat capcizes in Victoira lake; kills 130 people

At least 130 people were killed in a ferry boat tragedy in Tanzania when an overcrowded boat capsized in Victoria Lake on Thursday. The death toll continues to rise as rescue operation team have pulled out one dead victim after another.

According to the report, the ferry boat had a capacity to carry only 100 passengers, but it was heavily overloaded with up to three times that numbers of passengers. This proved quite heavy for the boat, which left 130 people killed on Thursday, just before it docked.

The president of Tanzania, John Magufuli has ordered to arrest the operator who was handling the ferry boat, MV Nyerere, the state-run Tanzania Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday, citing Ambassador John Kijazi.

Magufuli has also declared three days of national mourning, starting from Saturday, the Tanzania Broadcasting report added.

The boat was travelling from Bugolora to Ukara Island when it capsized at about 200 meters away from its destination.  Thursday is a market day on the island, and many passengers were travelling to Gulio market there. The total numbers of passengers have not been confirmed yet, but it is estimated that over 400 people were in the overcrowded ferry boat.

Transport Minister Isack Kamwele quoted as saying to CNN,  “40 survivors were rescued Friday and 40 others were saved Thursday in the accident. Rescue teams continued to search for hundreds who were likely on-board the overcrowded ferry.”

Due to poor visibility rescue operation was halted on Thursday, but rescue efforts resumed on Friday. “It’s been a bit difficult because of the fact that the ferry overturned with people and luggage,” Kamwele told CNN. “We have to remove the luggage first to get to the bodies.

Concerned relatives thronged on the scene to search for their loved ones, several are still missing, feared drowned.

Deadly maritime disaster is not a new thing in Tanzania, it has become familiar, and overcrowding is always the reason. In the year 2012, 145 people were killed when a packed ferry boat sank which was on en route to Zanzibar. In 2011, around 200 hundred people died in a similar incident. This disaster will also ignite memories of more than twenty years ago when over 800 people died after a ferry boat capsized in the very same waters of Lake Victoria.

Lake Victoria is one of the largest lakes in Africa, straddling the borders of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

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