Shipwreck off Limbe coast death toll rises to 17

By SIMON NDIVE KALLA

Latest information from the Governor of the South West Region, Mr. Benard Okalia Bilai, August 27, 2019, has increased the death toll of the August 25 shipwreck off Limbe Coast from 3 to 17. Speaking to the press, the Governor said three corpses were recovered immediately after the incident, with 14 others removed later. Meanwhile, four survivors reportedly swam to Nigeria.

The Governor noted that “these figures are the last provided we don’t have other deaths”.  He called on the South West population not to be scared of traveling by sea because it’s an accident.

On her part, the South West Regional Delegate of Transport, Limunga Kange Epse Kedze, disclosed that the ship which left neighbouring Nigeria and was heading to the Tiko wharf in Cameroon’s South West region had on board over 132 persons.

“Not all passengers inside the vessel were recorded. We are carrying out casualty investigations and at the end, we will know the actual number of passengers that were in the vessel. That’s when we can attest if it was overloaded or not,” she added.

As to what caused the wreck, the CEO of Ship Jane Kamaha, Mr.Jane Kamaha said “information from satellite and the ship captain points to the fact that they were around the Bakassi area precisely at Kita where there are a lot of sandbanks and I think the vessel must have hit the sandbank. The water was very shallow and the vessel got to the sandbank reducing the stability of the vessel. With this, passengers out of panic moved to one direction which now caused the vessel to capsize”.

Mr. Jane dismissed allegations of overload stating that the vessel that has the capacity of 456 tons only carried 317 tons.

An initial report from sources within the Cameroon military said they received a distress signal at about 3:20 pm Sunday, and after immediately rushing to the site of the incident, they succeeded to rescue 107 persons, as well as three corpses. Out of the rescued, 8 persons were reportedly severely injured; while 7 others suffering from stress and fatigue were jointly rushed alongside the injured to the Limbe Regional Hospital for medical attention.

Some of the rescued who spoke to the press said the incident happened within the twinkle of an eye, estimating it to be around 20 seconds. They say they remain grateful to the Cameroon military for coming to their aid. Those onboard the vessel are said to be both Cameroonians as well as Nigerians.

As search missions continue by the Cameroon military to recover the other persons said to be trapped inside the vessel, investigations have been opened to ascertain the exact cause of the incident, though reports suggest it is far from being a result of over-loading.