At least 10 people have died when their boat capsized while they were travelling to attend a funeral in Tanzania’s semiautonomous region, Pemba.
Nine other passengers in the boat were rescued and treated after the tragedy, which occurred on Tuesday night.
Regional Commissioner of South Region, Mattar Zahor, said several others are missing and rescue operations continue.
He said, “While rescue work was paused due to high winds, our search team will do the best it can to make sure we find them.”
Also confirming the incident, Pemba South Police Commander, Richard Thade, said the ill-fated boat was reportedly carrying between 30 and 40 people as of the time of the incident.
He said the cause of the accident could not be immediately established, but ruled out bad weather. The boat’s captain is yet to be located.
“So far nine bodies have been recovered and taken to the Regional Hospital for a medical examination so that the process of handing them over to their families can go ahead,” he said.
