DODOMA (BNO NEWS) — Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete on Sunday declared three days of mourning as the death toll surpassed 200 after an overcrowded ferry sank off Zanzibar on Saturday.
The accident happened at around 2 a.m. local time on Saturday when the MV Spice Islander I capsized and sank during a trip from Unguja Island to Pemba Island, the two main islands of the Zanzibar archipelago. It is believed as many as 1,000 people were on board.
“We will have three days of national mourning from today on September 11, 2011,” Kikwete said in a statement on Sunday as search and rescue operations were continuing for an unknown number of people, although the chances of finding any survivors from the disaster were slim.
“More than 200 bodies [have been found] so far,” the president said on Monday morning when asked by BNO News. In addition, officials in the semi-autonomous republic of Zanzibar said at least 610 people have been rescued, including more than 160 people who have been hospitalized.
It remains unclear how many people were on board the ferry, which was only designed to carry around 200 people at most. The figures released by the government so far add up to 810, but it is believed more than 1,000 people were on board the vessel when it capsized.
The ferry sinking is Zanzibar’s deadliest ever disaster. Tanzania’s worst maritime disaster occurred in May 1996 when the MV Bukoba sank on Lake Victoria, killing at least 800 and as many as 1,000 people.
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