Death toll from ferry capsize reaches 146

Published on 22/07/2012 00:00

TANZANIA: A search for 77 passengers, missing after an overloaded ferry capsized off the east African coast last week, was called off yesterday, bringing the death toll to 146.

Government official Ali Juma Shamhuna said 69 bodies were recovered and 145 people rescued after the MV Skagit overturned on Wednesday while travelling from the business capital, Dar es Salaam, to the island of Zanzibar.

He said the ferry was carrying a total of 291 passengers despite being certified to carry only 250.

Last September, more than 200 people were killed when another overcrowded Zanzibar island ferry sank.