197 bodies retrieved in Tanzania ferry accident: Minister
ZANZIBAR. September 12. KAZINFORM The search and rescue workers have retrieved 197 bodies of the victims in the ferry accident in the wee hours of Saturday, Mohammed Aboud, the Minister of State of the Second Vice-President's Office said here on Sunday; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
Aboud, who visited Maisara ground in Stone Town, the capital of semi-autonomous Zanzibar, told the press that the search and rescue operation is still going on and boosted by divers from South Africa.
Of 197 bodies recovered, 158 have been identified by family members and taken back for burial and the government has buried the remaining 39 victims without being identified in separate graves with their photos posted on a board for identification.
The minister said the government is not aware of the whereabout of the captain of MV Spice Islander, the ferry that was heavily overloaded and capsized on its way from Dar es Salaam to Pemba via Zanzibar.
"We are also looking for him. If the captain allowed the passengers to board knowing that will overload the ferry with great danger, he shall be brought to justice," the minister told the angry crowd who demanded the government to hand him over.
The ship had earlier left Dar es Salaam with 166 passengers, including 65 children, and 58 tons of cargo, while it is designed to carry 600 passengers and 500 tons of cargo, he said, adding that the passengers and cargo boarded at Zanzibar made the ferry overloaded.
The government believed that overloading is the cause of accident, one of the worst in Tanzania's maritime history; Kazinform cites Xinhua.
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