Mozambique ferry disaster kills more than 90 - officials

More than 90 people have died after a ferry sank off the north coast of Mozambique, local authorities say.

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.

Additional reporting by Ido Vock