A makeshift ferry carrying people sank off the coast of Mozambique‘s northern area and 94 people, including kids, died, according to local news.
Silverio Nauaito, who is in charge of the Island of Mozambique, reported to the media that, the ferry sank on Sunday afternoon. The number of people who died in the accident went up from 91 to 94 after they found three more bodies on Monday.
Mr Nauaito said that 130 people were on the ferry. 94 people died and about 11 people were taken to the hospital.
“Nauaito told the radio station that about three people were saved, but it’s hard to know exactly how many are still missing. ” He said that officials are going to the accident site on Monday to get more accurate information.
The boat that goes between Lunga and the Island of Mozambique was too full, and a lot of kids drowned, according to TV Diario Nampula. It tipped over during the trip.
Some people were going to a fair and others were trying to escape from Lunga to the Island of Mozambique because they were scared of getting sick with cholera.
Other news sources reported that Jaime Neto, the secretary of state in Nampula province, said that wrong information about a supposed cholera outbreak made people afraid and they got on a boat, which is usually used for fishing, to leave the area.
Officials in Mozambique and nearby southern African countries are working to stop a serious outbreak of cholera that has been spreading in the last few months.
Many parts of Mozambique can only be reached by boats, and they are usually very full of people. The country has bad roads and there are some places that cannot be reached by land or air.