/ 1 January 2002

150 more bodies found after Senegal’s ferry disaster

One hundred and fifty more bodies have been found around the wreck of a ferry that sank off west Africa with almost 800 people aboard, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said Saturday.

The 150 are in addition to the some 40 people confirmed dead by Senegalese officials on Friday, while around 60 people are said to have survived the disaster.

Wade said he believed the sinking of the ferry, the Joola, in stormy seas as it was heading to the Senegalese capital of Dakar on Thursday night was caused by an ”accumulation of errors.”

He was forced to emerge from his presidential palace on Saturday to address a crowd of angry Senegalese demanding answers about the tragedy.

Wade said the 150 bodies found had been transported to Banjul, the capital of neighbouring Gambia. – Sapa-AFP