Tanzania Ferry Mishap: Death Toll Surpasses 100.

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The death toll has surpassed a hundred, after a passenger ferry capsized on Lake Victoria, a Tanzanian official says, with the death toll expected to rise as rescue efforts continue through the day.

Thirty-seven people were rescued after the ferry sank on Thursday afternoon, according to Mwanza Regional Commissioner, John Mongella, when he spoke to The Associated Press.

Mongella said he couldn’t speculate how many people had been on board.

“Right now our focus is on rescue,” he said.

Such passenger ferries often carry hundreds of people and are overcrowded.

The Tanzania Electrical, Mechanical and Electronics Services Agency, in charge of servicing the vessels, urged patience as rescue efforts began.

The ferry had been travelling between the islands of Ukara and Bugolora and capsised near the area of Mwanza, the agency said.

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 were killed when passenger and cargo ferry MV Bukoba sank on Lake Victoria.

And in 2011 nearly 200 people were killed when the MV Spice Islander I sank off Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast near Zanzibar.

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