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TANZANIA-FERRY ACCIDENT-TOLL
Death toll from Tanzania ferry accident rise to 223
DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 23, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – The death toll of a ferry that
capsized in Lake Victoria on Thursday has reached 223 as search and rescue
operations were to be halted later in the day, authorities said.
A total of 223 bodies have been recovered between Thursday and Sunday
morning, Isack Kamwelwe, minister for Works, Transport and Communications,
told Xinhua over phone.
“We are still searching for more bodies before we halt the recovery
operations later today,” said Kamwelwe, adding that the operations will be
halted after the ferry was pulled out of the waters from one of Africa’s
great lakes.
A team of experts from the Tanzania People’s Defense Forces (TPDF) and
police force arrived at Ukara Islet, the scene of the accident, on Saturday
night to pull out the ferry using state-of-the-art equipment from TPDF, said
Kamwelwe.
He said that 199 out of the 223 bodies have been identified by relatives
and collected for burial.
“Bodies that will not be identified will be buried today (Sunday) by the
government at a ceremony to be officiated by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa,”
said Kamwelwe.
One survivor, who was rescued on Saturday morning and identified by
Kamwelwe as Alphonce Charahani, a ferry engineer who was among the
passengers, was in critical condition and doctors are fighting to save his
life.
On Friday, Tanzanian President John Magufuli announced a four-day mourning
period for the victims of the ferry accident.
According to sources, the ferry, with a capacity of 101 passengers and 25
tons of cargo, capsized at around 1 p.m. local time (1000) Thursday.
Magufuli also ordered the arrest of safety inspectors from the Surface and
Marine Transport Regulatory Authority, the country’s transport regulator.
Preliminary investigations showed that the state-owned ferry, overloaded
with more than 200 passengers, was being manned by someone who was not the
authorized captain of the vessel.
The last major ferry accident on Lake Victoria occurred in 1996 in the
same region, killing at least 500 people.
BSS/XINHUA/FI/ 1618 hrs