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At least 86 people were confirmed dead when a ferry capsized on Friday in Lake Victoria, reports the Tanzanian newspaper The Citizen, citing figures from John Mongella, governor of Mwanza, a hometown of many ferry passengers, told Reuters. Reuters reported. Another 100 people were rescued as a result of the incident, according to the BBC, 37 of whom remained "in very bad shape". Hundreds more have been reported missing.
"There were more than a hundred passengers on board when the ferry sank, it is feared that a significant number of them will have lost their lives," said George Nyamaha, chief District Council of Ukerewe. The ferry sank near the island of Ukara, which is part of the Ukerewe district.
Although the ferry's official capacity is 100 people, it would have carried more than 400 passengers when it sank. The authorities stated that it would be difficult to obtain an official number of passengers on the ship at the time of the capsizing, as the person who issued the tickets for the trip also died. It was reported that the machine recording the data was lost.
Authorities feared more than 200 people drowned in the incident. "We pray God to give us hope in such an accident," regional commissioner Adam Malima told reporters. "We pray God to give us hope that there have not been many deaths," he added.
The ferry is overturned near the shore between the Ukara and Bugolora islands. It is believed that when the ferry docked, the crowd on one side of the ferry moved to the other side, resulting in a loss of balance and a fall.
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