Rescue teams were searching the sea off the West African nation of Benin today in a desperate hunt for survivors of a plane crash that killed at least 96 people, authorities said.

Seventy-four child workers as young as four – their skin broken and palms covered in blisters from months of hauling granite – were receiving food, clothes and medical care in the west African state of Benin today after being rescued from traffickers who sold them into heavy labour.

A ship at the centre of a frantic search in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea was involved in child trafficking, officials confirmed today.

Children taken from a ferry are resting while authorities try to determine if it is the vessel that sparked a hunt for a suspected child-slave ship in Africa's Gulf of Guinea.

A top British Government official has said that a ship that was believed to have left Benin with children destined for slavery did not contain any unaccompanied minors and had been confused with a second ship, whose current location was unknown.

Fears are growing for the welfare of more than 100 slave children on board a cargo ship in Africa's Gulf of Guinea.