A boat capsized while travelling from Lunga to the island of Mozambique, where most of the passengers were trying to flee from being infected by cholera.
According to an official from the country’s Maritime Transport Institute (INTRASMAR), a ferry boat capsized on the northern coast of Mozambique, where, including children, at least 94 people died and 26 are missing. On state television on Monday, an administrator of INSTRASMAR, Lourenco Machado, stated that it was an overloaded fishing boat and that it was not legally licenced to transport people. He stated that on Sunday, we registered a maritime incident where at least 94 people died when a barge carrying 130 people capsized. They have recovered 94 bodies, and 26 are missing. He also added that the boat was ferrying people from Lunga in Nampula province to Mozambique Island, and initial reports indicated that this incident took place when a tidal wave bashed the boat.
Citing another local maritime administrator, state broadcaster TVM stated that the passengers were fleeing from cholera infection. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the secretary of state for Nampula province,Jaime Neto, also informed us that the passengers were fleeing from cholera. Jaime Neto stated that because the boat was overcrowded and unsuited to carry passengers, it ended up sinking, and many children were among the dead.
Many videos have been posted by several random accounts on social media X, showing that there are many dead bodies lying on a beach and some people carrying the bodies of children. Reuters could not immediately verify these videos to see if they were authentic or not. But according to the officials, some people had been travelling to attend a fair. Since last year, Mozambique and many other countries in southern Africa have been battling with cholera. Many locations in Mozambique are only approachable by boats, which often get overcrowded, and according to reports, the country has a poor road network. By land or air, some areas are unreachable.
