Scores believed dead in Guinea boat accident

At least 46 people – and possibly dozens more – were believed dead off the coast of Guinea after a motorised wooden boat loaded with merchandise and people capsized, officials and survivors said today.

The boat captain said the vessel that capsized on Wednesday near the capital Conakry, started out with 80 people. Only 34 survived the accident.

However, local marine officials said they believed more people boarded later and estimated that at least 100 people were aboard when the accident occurred.

Captain Mamadouba Camara said the transport boat – which ferries people along with goods such as sacks of rice and salt – ran into strong winds as it was approaching a Conakry dock and started to take on water, then overturned.

“The passengers panicked. They were going on all sides of the boat. We threw the cargo into the water, but it did nothing,” Camara said.

A nearby fishing boat at first refused to risk approaching the sinking vessel, but then pulled struggling people out of the water to safety.

The inspector general of Conakry’s Matam dock, Daouda Camara, said there were 85 passengers aboard. Fode Soumah, one of the survivors, said there were at least 100 aboard.