SAO TOME (AFP) — Up to 20 people were still missing Thursday after a boat capsized off the island of Sao Tome, local authorities told AFP.
"Between 15 and 20 people are still missing. We saved 31 people in our rescue operations," said Rui Vera Cruz, the head of Sao Tome and Principe's e port authority.
The Therese, a Gabonese boat linking the two islands of the Gulf of Guinea archipelago, capsized Tuesday evening owing to its cargo becoming dislodged coming and it carrying excess weight, the ship's captain Maciel Trindade said.
"We were transporting 10,000 litres of fuel. The barrels became dislodged and the boat capsized," he tolf AFP from his hospital bed.
The boat was also carrying more passengers than specified. "We have figures of 21 passengers and seven crew members but we saved 31 people in rescue operations. That means the boat was carrying more passengers than had been declared on the manifest," Rui Vera Cruz said.
The government declared a period of national mourning for the victims, while state prosecutors ordered all those involved in the accident to be taken into custody.
They include the captain, the boat's owner, the head of the port authority and police and customs officers who were on duty on Tuesday, a judicial source told AFP.
Since its independence from Portugal, Sao Tome has suffered from a poor transport infrastructure.
There are few airline routes in and out of the country and boats are often overcrowded, while in the last few years, five passenger boats have sunk.
In 2002, 20 people died in the sinking of the Babenzele between Sao Tome and Gabon.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
