At least 94 people, including many children, died this Sunday in Mozambique when the boat they were traveling in capsized off the coast of the northern province of Nampula, according to authorities. 26 people remain missing.
“It was a small boat that was carrying 130 passengers. The boat did not have the capacity to transport these people and it sank,” said the Secretary of State for Nampula, Jaime Neto, late on Sunday. “We have confirmed the death of 91 people, who have already been identified,” Neto initially said, specifying that five people were rescued by emergency services. Subsequently, the number increased.
Preliminary data indicate that the boat was traveling between the administrative post of Lunga, in the Mossuril district, and the island of Mozambique when it capsized after being hit by a wave.
Videos spread on social networks show dozens of bodies lying on a beach on the island. According to Neto, the victims were trying to escape the area due to panic caused by misinformation about a cholera outbreak.
The East African country has recorded 14,877 cases of the disease and 32 deaths since last October, according to the latest figures published by the Government. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Mozambique is currently suffering its “largest cholera outbreak in the last 25 years.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned last February of a serious spike in cholera cases this January in ten countries in eastern and southern Africa, and that there is a notable risk that the disease will spread further causing a epidemic.
The most affected countries are Zambia and Zimbabwe, while Mozambique, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Nigeria have reported active outbreaks of cholera, with a total of 26,000 cases and 700 deaths.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacteria “Vibrio cholerae.”
