[arista]

[Officials in Nampula province said
there were 12 survivors
out of the 130 or so people believed to have been on board.

They were fleeing after disinformation about
the ongoing cholera outbreak caused panic,
Nampula Secretary of State Jaime Neto said.

Many children were among the dead,
he added. Rescue efforts are continuing.

Initially on Sunday the authorities blamed
the shipwreck on overcrowding,
but later said it had sunk
after taking on water.

A crew member who survived,
Menque Amade, told national broadcaster TVM
that "water filled the boat... and the tragedy
happened".

Photos taken soon afterwards show
dozens of bodies lying on a beach.

The boat was travelling from
Lunga to Mozambique Island, off the coast of
Nampula,
Portuguese broadcaster RTP reported.

It is a Muslim-majority area and some
of those who died have already
been buried, in line with Islamic rites.

Ordinary Mozambicans say the news
of the boat tragedy shocked them,
particularly because of the huge number of deaths.

Boat accidents are not uncommon
in Mozambique but rarely do so
many people die. Thousands of boats are said
to ferry passengers around with little oversight.

"It's shocking - the authorities are partly to
blame for not doing enough to control and
monitor sea traffic," local journalist
Charles Mangwiro told the BBC.

Another reporter in Mozambique, Berta Madime,
told the BBC that this latest accident
comes despite recent pressure on ferry
operators to improve safety.

Nampula province has been one of
the worst-affected by the cholera outbreak which
has spread over several countries in southern Africa
since January last year.

According to Unicef, the current outbreak
is the worst in 25 years. Since October 2023,
Mozambique has reported 13,700 confirmed cases
and 30 deaths.

An Islamist insurgency in neighbouring
Cabo Delgado province has claimed the
lives of at least 4,000 people and displaced
nearly one million others since it
began over six years ago.

For nearly 400 years, Mozambique Island
was the capital of Portuguese East Africa,
when the region was under colonial rule.
The island is designated a Unesco
world heritage site for its colonial architecture
and history as a trading post.]


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68758345