FREETOWN, (Reuters) – A boat carrying children in Sierra Leone back from their school holidays capsized in a heavy storm off the capital Freetown, killing at least 80 of its 150 passengers, police said yesterday.
Emergency services rescued 36 people and were continuing the search for more survivors from the wreck on Tuesday, federal police spokesman Ibrahim Samuro told reporters.
“The rest are still missing. The vessel cannot be traced,” Samuro said of the search effort off the coast by Freetown’s Tombo suburb.
“Most of the dead were children between the ages of eight and 16 years old,” Sam Bangura, a senior police officer, told Reuters earlier, adding that the boat capsized when it drifted into a heavy storm and its engine failed.
Abu Essay, one of the survivors, said most of the victims were children returning from the town of Waterloo, 12 km (7.5 miles) away from Freetown, where they had spent their holidays.
Lack of maintenance and over-crowding mean such accidents are frequent in West Africa, which is currently being battered by seasonal storms and heavy rain that on land have already killed more than 160 people and displaced thousands more.
