'More died in ferry disaster'

2002-11-26 20:04

Ziguinchor, Senegal - The sinking of a ferry in the Gulf of Guinea in September claimed more lives than the 1 200 estimated by authorities early this month, officials of an association of victims' relatives said on Tuesday.

A government investigation concluded that 1 200 people perished in the sinking of the government-operated ferry called Joola, which had a capacity of 550 passengers and a crew of about 40, while just 64 people had survived the disaster.

However officials of a victims' association set up in Ziguinchor, in southern Senegal from where the ill-fated ferry sailed, told journalists that they had compiled a death toll of 1 340 through a "census" of families from that region that was checked against the passenger list.

Many other passengers were not from the Ziguinchor area, they said.

The association also accused the government of failing to live up to pledges of support two months after the disaster, and rejected as insufficient an offer of CFA8bn francs in compensation for the victims.

President Abdoulaye Wade sacked his government on November 4 in the wake of the disaster, the worst in Senegal's maritime history and in modern African history. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA