坦桑尼亞發生沉船事故，恐有340餘人遇難

A ship sank off mainland Tanzania on Saturday with about 600 people onboard and about 380 people are believed missing, survivors said.

The ferry, M.V. Spice Islanders, was heavily overloaded and some potential passengers had refused to board when it was leaving the mainland port of Dar es Salaam, said survivor Abdullah Saied. It sank in an area with heavy currents in deep sea between mainland Tanzania and Pemba Island at about 1 a.m. Saturday.

About 220 people had been rescued, said the registrar of the ship, Abdullah Mohamed. Tanzanian authorities did not yet have an official statement.

Thousands of residents mobbed the docks of Stone Town on Zanzibar, an island near Pemba, waiting for news. One man was screaming that he had lost 25 members of his family, including his sisters, his wife and grandsons. He was too upset to give his name. Many of the crowd were crying or screaming.

Seven bodies have washed up so far, said witness Abdirizak Juma.

Many of those present expressed anger that the ship had been allowed to leave port so overloaded and called on government officials to resign.

The green and hilly island of Pemba is often described as one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world.

以下爲中國廣播網中文報道：

中廣網北京9月10日消息 坦桑尼亞桑給巴爾官員10日說，一艘渡輪9日夜在桑給巴爾主島與鄰島之間沉沒，船上600餘名乘客當中可能有340餘人遇難。

桑給巴爾通訊與基礎設施副部長伊薩哈吉烏西說，目前船上已有250多人獲救，遇難者遺體正在陸續運往桑給巴爾國家廣場供親屬辨認。

有報道稱，沉船原因可能爲超載，但政府方面尚未排除機械故障的可能性。目前，搜救與調查工作仍在進行中。