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Arrests, condolences as Tanzania mourns victims of ferry disaster

Arrests, condolences as Tanzania mourns victims of ferry disaster

Tanzania

Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta have sent condolences to their counterpart John Pombe Magufuli and the people of Tanzania following the loss of over 100 lives in the ferry accident that happened on Thursday.

The ferry MV Nyerere capsized on Thursday afternoon just a few metres from the dock on Ukerewe, the lake’s biggest island, which is part of Tanzania. Initial estimates suggested that the ferry was carrying more than 300 people.

The country’s police chief Simon Sirro said on Friday that the number of people dead from the disaster has risen to at least 136.

President Magufuli has since ordered for the arrest of all officials involved in the supervision and operation of the capsized ferry.

Chief secretary John Kijazi who announced the arrests in Dodoma on Friday, added that Magufuli had ordered for three days of national mourning.

Leaders condole with Tanzanians

‘’ On behalf of the people of Uganda and on my own behalf, I express our condolences to H.E J. Pombe Magufuli and the people of the Republic of Tanzania upon this loss,’‘ read part of Museveni’s tweet sent out on Friday afternoon.

Thirty-seven people had been rescued from the sea, Jonathan Shana, the regional police commander for the port of Mwanza on the south coast of the lake told Reuters by phone on Friday.

Shana said more rescuers had joined the operation when it resumed at daylight on Friday. He did not give exact numbers.

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