afrol News / Mutations, 23 March - In the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, a ship coming from the port of Oron in Nigeria en route to Port-Gentil in Gabon suddenly capsized off Kribi at the southern Cameroonian coast. According to survivors, the boat on had some 150 passengers on board, mostly nationals of Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Nigeria. The tragic outcome so far is of more than 100 persons missing and only 23 known survivors. This is the third ship sinking off Cameroon's coast in eight months.

The 23 passengers found alive owe their survival to a local fisherman, who spotted several bodies floating in the sea and immediately informed his colleagues and the Cameroonian navy, who went to the aid of the fortunate survivors. The administrative authorities of the town of Kribi - a tourism destination and major industrial port at the southern coast of Cameroon - were alerted and were able to immediately arrange help for the 23 survivors.

While the investigations into the disaster continue, the survivors have been transferred to the hospital of the district of Kribi. The rescue teams - marines and fishermen - were mobilised by Prefect Grégoire Mvongo and still continue the search of those missing on the high seas. There is little hope that more survivors will be found.

François Mahouwa, the person in charge of the regional International Red Cross offices, basing himself on stories told by some of the survivors, has informed that there were high waves. "They were onboard a wooden ship construction loaded with very many passengers and goods. It seems that a board was broken and the water began to enter," Mr Mahouwa tells. On the other hand, a survivor affirms that the causes of the accident are of a natural character and mechanic. He affirms, in fact, that the accident was caused by a violent tornado combined with a motor failure.

Among the local population, there has been a general uneasiness. Kribi residents have not yet forgotten the spectacular June 2005 disaster, which involved the shipwreck of "Cotonou", a Beninese boat that capsized approximately 75 kilometres off Kribi. Residents recall that also this boat came from Oron in Nigeria and went to Port-Gentil in Gabon, carrying passengers from Benin, Mali and Burkina Faso.

Immediately after the "Cotonou" sank, Kribi residents found dozens of bodies undressed and deformed by the fury of the waves, most with their bellies swollen by the seawater, the skulls broken by rocks. It had been a shocking and saddening view for Kribi locals, which most hoped would never be repeated. The shipwreck in June 2005 caused the death of 46 of the 80 people that were onboard.

Some days later, unfortunately, another boat, again coming from Oron, had a fatal accident. It was the 12th of July 2005. Luckily, the 161 people, all nationals of Western Africa, had their lives saved thanks to an effective intervention by the Cameroonian navy.

This week's drama on a passenger ship therefore is the third that occurs off the coast of southern Cameroon in only eight months. The repeated lethal accident have raised the questions of marine security and of clandestine immigration within Africa, having in mind that most of the victims were going to look for employment in Gabon - a relatively rich and sparsely populated country south of Cameroon.

Following these dramatic incidents, Prefect Grégoire Mvongo of Kribi today presided over a crisis meeting regarding the regulation of marine disasters. Meanwhile, the first dead bodies have started to float onshore in the villages of Londji and Itongué, where local residents are preparing for their burial.

By staff writers

© afrol News / Mutations

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