At Least 44 Dead After Passenger Ferry Capsized in Tanzania

   September 21, 2018 ,   Accidents

At least 44 passengers have drowned after a ferry capsized Thursday afternoon, September 20, on Lake Victoria in Tanzania.

MV Nyerere capsized at around 2 pm local time on its way to Ukora Island, 2 hours after departing from Bugorora, Ukerewe Island.

Officials expect the death toll to rise when the search starts again on Friday at daybreak.

According to regional commissioner, John Mongella, 37 people had been rescued but some were in "very bad condition."

He wouldn't speculate on how many people had been on the ferry, but it's not uncommon for passenger ferries that ply the vast lakes of the region to carry hundreds of travellers at a time.

Ferry accident Tanzania

According to Tanzanian government records, a total of 894 people died when MV Bukoba capsized on Lake Victoria May 1996.

More recently, 200 were confirmed dead when MV Spice Islander I sank off the coast of archipelago of Zanzibar in 2011. Over 1,000 were reported missing.