197 bodies retrieved in Tanzania ferry accident

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania - The search and rescue workers have retrieved 197 bodies of the victims in the ferry accident in the wee hours of Saturday, Mohammed Aboud, the Minister of State of the Second Vice-President's Office said on Sunday.

Aboud, who visited Maisara ground in Stone Town, the capital of semi-autonomous Zanzibar, told the press that the search and rescue operation is still going on and boosted by divers from South Africa.

Of 197 bodies recovered, 158 have been identified by family members and taken back for burial and the government has buried the remaining 39 victims without being identified in separate graves with their photos posted on a board for identification.

The minister said the government is not aware of the whereabout of the captain of MV Spice Islander, the ferry that was heavily overloaded and capsized on its way from Dar es Salaam to Pemba via Zanzibar.

"We are also looking for him. If the captain allowed the passengers to board knowing that will overload the ferry with great danger, he shall be brought to justice," the minister told the angry crowd who demanded the government to hand him over.

The ship had earlier left Dar es Salaam with 166 passengers, including 65 children, and 58 tons of cargo, while it is designed to carry 600 passengers and 500 tons of cargo, he said, adding that the passengers and cargo boarded at Zanzibar made the ferry overloaded.

The government believed that overloading is the cause of accident, one of the worst in Tanzania's maritime history.

The government dismantled the tents on Maisara ground on Sunday afternoon, which were set up the previous day to place victims' bodies, announcing that bodies retrieved will be buried in nearby graveyards instead of being transferred back to Stone Town.

Photos of those buried by the government will be kept for future identification by family members, said the minister.

A mass prayer at Maisara ground is to be performed in memory of the people who died in the accident as Zanzibar is in a three day mourning starting on Sunday.