Tanzania ferry accident - as it happened: At least 136 killed after Lake Victoria boat capsizes amid desperate rescue mission

Hundreds still missing, feared dead

More than 100 dead after Tanzania ferry sinks on Lake Victoria

The death toll has risen above 136 after a ferry capsized on Lake Victoria in Tanzania.

Officials say the number is likely to rise further as search and rescue operations continue after the disaster on Thursday afternoon.

At least 37 people were rescued from the sunken ferry as of Thursday evening, when rescue teams called off their mission overnight.

It is not clear how many people were on board, though such ferries often carry hundreds of people and are overcrowded.

Accidents are often reported on the large freshwater lake, which is surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Some of the deadliest have occurred in Tanzania, where passenger boats are often said to be old and in poor condition.

In 1996, more than 800 people died when the passenger and cargo ferry MV Bukoba sank on Lake Victoria.

Nearly 200 people died in 2011 when the MV Spice Islander I sank off Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast near Zanzibar.

[21 September 2018 11:11 · Samuel Osborne]

The death toll after a Tanzanian passenger ferry capsized on Lake Victoria has risen to over 100, Tanzanian state radio reported.

Initial estimates suggested the ferry was carrying more than 300 people.

[21 September 2018 11:19 · Samuel Osborne]

[21 September 2018 12:40 · Samuel Osborne]

The toll was likely to go up, John Mongella, commissioner for the Mwanza region, told The Associated Press after dozens of security forces and volunteers resumed work at daybreak. 

"More than 200 people are feared dead," based on accounts from fishermen and others nearby, because passengers had been returning from a busy market day, Tanzania Red Cross spokeswoman Godfrida Jola told the AP. "But no one knows" just how many people were on board. 

[21 September 2018 13:49 · Samuel Osborne]

The number of people killed in the disaster has risen to at least 136, the country's top police official has said.

[21 September 2018 14:12 · Samuel Osborne]

The president of Tanzania, John Magufuli, has urged the country to remain calm.

[21 September 2018 14:59 · Samuel Osborne]

Pope Francis and a number of African leaders have expressed shock and sorrow. 

"His Holiness Pope Francis expresses his heartfelt solidarity with those who mourn the loss of their loved ones and who fear for the lives of those still missing," his telegram said, according to the Vatican.