Ajali ya meli Zanzibar - Update

(Picha -kutoka Michuzi Blog Watu wengi wamemiminika Nungwi kusubiri kutambua maiti na kujulia hali ya ndugu zao.)

 Kutoka BBC    (Pia unaweza kuona  video)


Zaidi ya watu 100 bado hawajulikani walipo, lakini watu 325 walionusurika wameokolewa, kwa mujibu wa waziri wa masuala ya dharura wa Zanzibar.
Meli hiyo, MV Spice Islander ilikuwa ikisafiri kati ya Kisiwa kikuu cha Unguja kuelekea Pemba.
Meli hiyo ilikuwa ikirejesha watu baada ya kumalizika kwa mfungo wa Ramadhani.

Msaada

Mamlaka za huko zimezidiwa na tukio hilo na zimeomba msaada kutoka nje.
Serikali ya Zanzibar imeunda kituo cha uokoaji na kutoa wito kwa taasisi zote kusaidia katika shughuli za uokozi. Serikali hiyo pia imeomba msaada kutoka nchi nyingine za nje, kama vile Kenya na Afrika Kusini.
Walionusurika walichukuliwa na boti za kibinafsi na kupelekwa katika bandari ya Zanzibar, amekaririwa kamishna wa polisi wa Zanzibar Mussa Hamis.

Watu walionusurika wakipelekwa hospitali

Miili ya watu imekuwa ikisukumwa katika pwani ya Zanzibar na mawimbi. Mpaka sasa miili ya watu 100 wamepatikana, amesema mwandishi wa BBC Ali Saleh akiwa Zanzibar.
Maelfu ya ndugu na jamaa wanasubiri kusikia taarifa za ndugu zao ambao walikuwa ndani ya meli hiyo, anasema mwandishi wetu.
Mohhamed Aboud, waziri wa masuala ya dharura wa Zanzibar anasema watu 259 walionusurika wameokolewa lakini 40 kati yao wamejeruhiwa sana.

Boti yetu imechelewa kwa sababu wanatumia vyombo vyote vya baharini kuokoa watu

Catherine Purvis

Catherine Purvis, mtalii kutoka Uingereza aliyepo Zanzibar, akisubiri boti ya kwenda Dar es Salaam amesema ameshuhudia miili ya watu wengi ikitolewa ndani ya maji.
“Nimesimama katika bandari ya Zanzibar nikiwa na watalii wengine kama 10 wa Marekani na Uingereza.
“Boti yetu imechelewa kwa sababu wanatumia vyombo vyote vya baharini kuokoa watu”.
Rubani mmoja wa helikopta Kapteni Neels van Eijk alipita juu ya eneo la tukio.
“Tuliona walionusurika wakiwa wameshikilia magodoro na majokofu au chochote kile kinachoweza kuelea. Ni vigumu kusema idadi kamili, lakini naweza kusema walikuwepo zaidi ya watu 200 walionusurika ndani ya maji na miili ya watu pia,” ameiambia BBC.

Shughuli za uokoaji pwani ya Zanzibar

“Wakati huo, kulikuwa na boti chache zilizofika katika eneo hilo. Walikuwa wakitafuta walionusurika, ingawa bahari haikuwa imechafuka sana, mawimbi walikuwa makubwa, kwa hiyo ilikuwa vugumu kuona walionusurika.
“Tulirusha ndege yetu na kuziongoza boti hadi kwa watu walionusurika ili waweze kuwachukua. Kulikuwa na miili kadhaa ndaniya maji.”
Meli hiyo iliondoka Unguja takriban saa tatu usiku saa za Afrika Mashariki na inadhaniwa kuwa ilizama majira ya saa saba usiku.
Ilikuwa imebeba abiria wengi kiasi kwamba baadhi ya abiria waligoma kupanda, amekaririwa abiria mmoja aliyenusurika Abdullah daid, akizungumza na shirika la habari la AP.
BBC

( Body of Zanzibar Ferry Disaster Victim is Recovered -Picha kutoka The Guardian UK)

Meli Imezama Zanzibar - Mamia Wamekufa!

Wadau, kumradhi muda huu nimegundua hii ya meli iliyozama ni feki. Siyo MV Spice Islandder. Picha ya Juu ndo MV Spice Islander. Picha hii ilipigwa 2007.

(Pichani - Meli M.V. Spice Islanders ikiwa imezama Pwani ya Nungwi  Picha kwa hisani ya mdau  Ahmed Muhamed Ahmed wa Zanzinet)

Meli M.V. Spice Islanders imezama baharini ikitoka Zanzibar kwenda  Pemba. Habari zinasema kuwa meli iilikuwa imejaza kupita kiasi abiria na mizigo! Imezama eneo la Nungwi, pwani ya Zanzibar. 


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STONE TOWN, Tanzania (AP) - An overcrowded ship sank in deep sea off mainland Tanzania on Saturday with about 600 people onboard, and about 370 people are believed missing or dead.

The ferry, M.V. Spice Islanders, was heavily overloaded and some potential passengers had refused to board when it was leaving the mainland port of Dar es Salaam, said survivor Abdullah Saied. It sank in an area with heavy currents in deep sea between mainland Tanzania and Pemba Island at about 1 a.m. Saturday.

About 230 people had been rescued and 40 bodies had been recovered, said Mohamed Abud, the minister for the vice president's office.

Thousands of residents mobbed the docks of Stone Town on Zanzibar, an island near Pemba, waiting for news. One man was screaming that he had lost 25 members of his family, including his sisters, his wife and grandsons. He was too upset to give his name. Many of the crowd were crying or screaming.

Seven bodies have washed up so far, said witness Abdirizak Juma.

Many of those present expressed anger that the ship had been allowed to leave port so overloaded and called on government officials to resign.

The green and hilly island of Pemba is often described as one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world.