A ferry with at
least 280 people on board has sunk off the east African coast of the Zanzibar
archipelago, killing at least 31 people, including some foreigners, the
government has said.
Dozens of people
were missing after the ferry, MV Kalama, capsized after it set sail from the
Tanzanian commercial capital of Dar-es-Salaam around midday on Wednesday,
officials said.
"We have so
far received 24 bodies, including two Europeans," Hamad Masoud Hamad,
Zanzibar's transport minister, told journalists gathered at the main hospital
after the sinking of the MV Kalama.
This was the
second such ferry disaster in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in
less than a year.
"The rescue
operations are continuing... 124 people have already been found alive and we
hope that others will be saved," Emmanuel Nchimbi, Tanzania's interior
minister, said.
Rescue boats and
divers were searching for any remaining survivors on the mostly submerged
vessel.
Government
spokesman Yusuf Chunda said 13 foreigners were rescued and are in hospital. It
was not clear how many other foreigners had been on board.
"More than
200 people are believed to have been on board the boat when it capsized. We
don't know how many of them sank with the boat," Zanzibar police spokesman
Mohammed Mhina said.
"The rescue
operation is ongoing as we speak but almost the entire boat has been submerged
in water ... only a small part of the boat is now visible."
An AFP journalist
at the port on the main island of the Indian Ocean archipelago said he had seen
55 survivors, soaking wet, on the quayside.
Medical personnel
were handing out blankets as the survivors emerged from rescue boats, before
being sent to a nearby hospital. Some unconscious victims were being carried on
stretchers.
It was not fully
clear what caused the accident, but preliminary reports indicated the vessel
may have capsized after being hit by strong winds and waves, Mhina said.
Police said the
vessel was carrying 250 adult passengers and 31 children when it capsized near
Chumbe Island, west of Zanzibar.
The ferry is owned
by a company named Seagull, which also runs a number of other ferries. Previous
reports had indicated the vessel was called MV Salama.
More than 200
people perished in September when the ferry Spice Islander capsized while
sailing between two of the three islands that make up Zanzibar, in one of the
worst maritime disasters in Africa in the past decade.