At least 18 people died when a boat sank in Cameroon, an administrative official in the region said on Friday (29).
The vessel sank on Thursday (28) while transporting passengers to a market in the Darak district, close to the border with Chad. Seasonal floods made boats the only viable means of transport for the population in this region.
Mamat Zarma, an officer in the Darak division, said the wooden boat was on its way when it was shaken by violent winds, which caused it to capsize.
“So far, we have recovered the bodies of five women and 13 men,” Zarma told Reuters by phone. According to the official, the exact number of passengers on board at the time of the accident is unknown.
Search and rescue operations are underway looking for survivors.
Two weeks ago, the sinking of a canoe left four people dead.
Storms in the region
Heavier than normal seasonal rains in parts of West and Central Africa caused widespread flooding, different regions of Cameroon.
As a result, residents began to depend on water transport to get around, but the lack of canoes encourages overcrowding — the most common cause of boat accidents in the region.
While the rainy season is coming to an end in much of West and Central Africa, many countries are still dealing with the consequences of flooding. More than 1,500 people have already died. In total, more than 7.2 million people were affected by the problem as of November 20, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs).
This content was originally published in Shipwreck leaves at least 18 dead in Cameroon on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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