Tanzania ferry disaster: Survivor found as death toll nears 200

A survivor has been found inside the capsized Tanzanian ferry on the third day of rescue operations as the death toll of the disaster nears 200.

An engineer was found near the engine of the vessel, Mwanza regional commissioner John Mongella told reporters on Saturday, two day after the MV Nyerere sank on Thursday near Ukerewe island on the Tanzanian side of Lake Victoria.

The man had shut himself into the engine room, the Tanzanian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The rescue brings the amount of survivors of the disaster to 41. 

While the cause of the accident was not immediately clear, overloading is frequently to blame for such incidents. The vessel’s capacity was said to be 101 but state television, citing witnesses, reported that more than 200 people were on-board the ferry. 

Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Friday said the captain of the MV Nyerere had been arrested and that he had ordered arrests of all those responsible for the operation of the vessel. 

Hopes of finding more survivors were virtually nil and Magufuli said he expected the death toll to rise. 

“[It] is obvious that more bodies are trapped in the capsized vessel,” Tanzanian newspaper The Citizen quoted the president as saying.

“Reports I receive show that even the cargo was far more than the 25 tonnes allowed.”

More bodies are expected to be found on the capsized MV Nyerere [AFP]

In his televised address, Magufuli added he had information that the arrested captain was not on board the ship at the time of the incident and that control of the ferry had been left to someone who had not been received proper training for the job. 

Four days of national mourning have been announced. 

Grim rescue operation

On Friday, onlookers bore witness to a grim rescue operation as scores of bodies were pulled out of the waters of Africa’s biggest lake. 

Davita Ngenda, a victim’s relative, received bad news. 

“My son is among the bodies recovered,” she told AFP news agency, weeping. “He had gone with his wife but she has not been found yet.”

Sebastian John, a teacher, said such tragedies had become part of life for those living on the lake.

“Since my birth, people have gone to their deaths on this lake, but what are we to do? We did not choose to be born here, we have nowhere to go,” he said.

Onlookers bore witness to a grim rescue operation on Friday [Mteule Gosberth Kahangile/The Associated Press]

Tanzania’s opposition accused the government of negligence. 

“We have often raised concerns about the poor condition of this ferry, but the government turned a deaf ear. We have repeatedly denounced this negligence,” said John Mnyika, deputy secretary general of the main opposition party Chadema.

President Magufuli warned against using the disaster for political gains. 

“We should let authorities do their job and if you have any evidence, you should wait until the matter is taken to court so that they could help the court to deliver justice,” he said. 

Capsizes are not uncommon on Lake Victoria and overloading often plays a role in disasters such as these. In 1996, a ferry disaster in the same region killed more than 500 people.

“There’s always activity along the shores of Lake Victoria at any time of day or night,” Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from the Ugandan side of the lake, said. 

“People depend on the lake for their survival; fishermen for fishing, others for water transport and trade. The people on the boat that capsized, many of them were on their way home form a market when the boat tipped over.”

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies