Africa-Press – Mozambique. The leader of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, opposition), Ossufo Momade, said on Monday that he was “deeply saddened” by the death of at least 98 people in the sinking of a fishing boat off the island of Mozambique, and called for national mourning.
“We demand that the government declare national mourning and that this moment be recognised by the authorities as another sign of public negligence and lack of public safety,” wrote Ossufo Momade on his official Facebook account.
“We were very moved and concerned to learn that the vessel in question was a fishing boat and was not designed to transport people, which leads us to reflect on the need for maritime safety,” added the leader of Mozambique’s largest opposition party.
Mozambique’s former president Armando Guebuza was also “deeply saddened” by the accident.
“We extend our deepest sympathy to the bereaved families,” wrote Guebuza, who was in office for ten years until 2015.
The Mozambican authorities today updated the death toll to 98 following Sunday’s sinking in Nampula province, northern Mozambique.
“At the moment we have a total of 98 deaths, 13 survivors and the rest are missing. It was a boat with around 130 people,” Rosa Chauque, spokeswoman for the Mozambique police (PRM) in Nampula province, told Lusa.
According to the Mozambican maritime authorities, the fishing boat was not authorised to carry passengers, nor did it have the conditions to do so.
According to the same source, the people it was carrying were fleeing a cholera outbreak on the mainland, bound for the island of Mozambique.
The victims died following the sinking of an overcrowded boat that had left the Lunga administrative post bound for the island of Mozambique, the PRM spokeswoman told Lusa.
“It’s just a fisherman’s boat, a boat that didn’t have the capacity for the number of people it was carrying. Searches are continuing,” she added.
Local reports indicate that the victims, including children and entire families, are being buried immediately due to the lack of conditions for preserving the bodies.
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