Officials report that an unauthorized ferry boat capsizes in Mozambique, killing 94 people

A ferry boat sank off the northern coast of Mozambique, killing at least 94 people—including children—and leaving 26 more missing, according to a representative of the Maritime Transport Institute (INTRASMAR) of the nation.

According to INSTRASMAR administrator Lourenco Machado, the boat was an overcrowded fishing vessel that lacked a license to carry passengers. He made this announcement on state television on Monday.

“We reported a marine event on Sunday in which a barge carrying 130 passengers overturned, resulting in at least 94 fatalities. 26 people are missing and 94 dead have been found,” he said.

He claimed that the boat was transporting passengers from Lunga in Nampula province to Mozambique Island when it was struck by a tidal surge, according to preliminary reports.

Citing another local marine administrator, state television TVM said that the travelers were escaping a cholera epidemic.

The British Broadcasting Corp (BBC) said that Jaime Neto, the secretary of state for Nampula province, added that the passengers were escaping disease.

He told the BBC that numerous children were among the deceased and that the boat sank because it was too packed and unfit to transport people.

Videos showing several dead laying on a beach and some individuals carrying children’s bodies were shared on social media. These videos were not readily verifiable by Reuters.

Since last year, cholera epidemics have plagued Mozambique and other Southern African nations.