bAt least 90 people died when an overcrowded fishing boat sank in northern Mozambique on Sunday evening. According to media reports from the country in southeastern Africa, the passengers are said to have fled by ship to escape a cholera epidemic on an island in Nampula province in northern Mozambique.
The boat, which was actually only intended for fishing, could accommodate a maximum of 100 people, said a representative of the island administration on the STV television station. However, there were around 130 people on board. “The ship was not intended to transport people,” the official said. The AIM news agency reported, citing a representative of the maritime authority, that the ship was probably wrecked when it was hit by high waves.
Many children drowned
“The boat sank because it was overloaded and unsuitable for carrying passengers,” said Northern Nampula Province Secretary Jaime Neto. There are many children among the dead. The search for survivors continues despite adverse conditions. Most of the passengers wanted to leave the mainland because of misinformation about the cholera epidemic, Neto said.
According to the government, almost 15,000 cases of cholera and 32 deaths have been recorded since October in the southern African state, which is one of the poorest countries in the world. Nampula is the hardest-hit region, accounting for a third of all cases.
Cholera is transmitted, among other things, through contaminated drinking water and can quickly lead to death if left untreated. According to the World Health Organization, the disease has been on the rise again since 2021.
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