AFP reports that two people were killed while 28 others have gone missing after a ferry sank off the western coast of Gabon on Thursday, March 9.
The Ro-Pax ferry Esther Miracle was nearing the city of Port-Gentil after having earlier departed the capital city of Libreville when it suffered water ingress shortly after 03:00 local time.
Vessel owner Royal Cost Marine said the flooding then led to loss of control, and the ferry sank less than an hour later.
Rescue teams from the Gabonese Navy and other local partners as well as the crews of some Good Samaritan vessels were able to pull 121 survivors and two deceased individuals, one of whom was an infant, out of the water. At least two of the survivors have since been brought to hospital.
A local port official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that 28 people who were on the ferry are still missing.
Prosecutors have already begun an inquiry to identify the probable causes of the tragedy.
