About 100 people died when a makeshift ferry sank off Mozambique

About 130 people are believed to have been on board the boat

Almost 100 people, many of them children, drowned off the coast of Mozambique, when their overloaded boat sank as they fled a cholera outbreak.

98 people are confirmed dead when a makeshift ferry believed to be carrying around 130 people capsized and broke apart while carrying passengers from Lungi.

The passengers said they fled their homes in Nampula province to escape cholera and intended to seek refuge on Mozambique Island, a small coral islet and ancient trading post that gives the country its name.

Rescuers approach the almost completely sunken ship

Only a handful of passengers are known to have survived, and on Monday locals wandered along the coastline in searching for tel. Two dozen passengers are reported missing.

Unverified footage circulating online shows dozens of bodies covered in blankets lying on the beach.

James Neto, Nampula provincial secretary of state, said the ship was «overcrowded and not fit to carry passengers.»

> was overcrowded and unsuitable for carrying passengers, Mr. Neto said.

Mozambique has been suffering for the past two years from According to the UN, this is the largest outbreak of cholera in a quarter of a century.

In the province of Nampula, one of the poorest areas of the country, a third of cases of bacterial diarrheal diseases are registered.

Overall, Mozambique has recorded nearly 15,000 cases of water-borne illness and 32 deaths since October. to government data.

Several other southern African countries, including Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia, have also struggled to contain serious outbreaks in recent months.

UNICEF, the UN children's body Since the beginning of 2023, a total of more than 230,000 cases and 4,000 deaths have been reported in 14 countries in eastern and southern Africa.

Health officials are concerned about the unusually high proportion of cases that are fatal.< /p>

Mr Neto said «misinformation» about the cholera outbreak caused people to panic and board a boat that usually serves as a fishing vessel.

There was a trade operation taking place on the island of Mozambique. a post on the route to India, originally used by Arab merchants and owned by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama.