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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, September 30, 2002

Ferry Disaster Toll in Senegal Nears 1,000

In long, solemn lines, thousands of people pored over photos Sunday of the bloated bodies from one of Africa's deadliest ferry accidents, as the Senegal government said that nearly 1,000 people are now believed dead. Only 64 people are known to have survived when the MS Joola capsized off Africa's West Coast in heavy winds late Thursday.


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In long, solemn lines, thousands of people pored over photos Sunday of the bloated bodies from one of Africa's deadliest ferry accidents, as the Senegal government said that nearly 1,000 people are now believed dead. Only 64 people are known to have survived when the MS Joola capsized off Africa's West Coast in heavy winds late Thursday.

On Sunday, the government said that 1,034 people were on board the ship, sharply up from the 797 it had first announced.

By midday Sunday, Gambian and Senegalese sailors, dive teams and other searchers had collected 352 bodies from the ferry, the water and from along the coast, where some were washing up, said Aminata Dibba, permanent secretary for Gambia's presidency.

Six refrigerated ship containers with bodies inside were lined up in the capital's port, while hundreds more disintegrating bodies were offshore waiting to be brought in.

Authorities planned Monday to finish an investigation into what caused the Senegalese state-run boat to sink off Gambia, a former English colony about 30 miles across at its widest point that divides north and south Senegal.

On Sunday, the government added the 55-member crew and said 185 passengers had boarded the doomed ferry at a second stop en route from southern Senegal, bringing the total aboard to 1,034, said Diadji Toure, communication's adviser for Senegal's prime minister.

Source: Agencies










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