Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Scores Dead, More Missing After Ferry Sinks

Compiled From Wire Services

A ferry sank off the coast of Angola, drowning at least 42 passengers, state radio reported Sunday. Another 100 people were missing and feared dead.

The boat sank Thursday near the town of Sumbe, 160 miles south of Luanda, the capital.

Because of banditry in the country ravaged by civil war, ferries are the main transportation on the government-held west coast. Eighty-eight percent of Angola’s 8 million people are living in that narrow swath to escape fighting.

According to survivors, the ferry, operated by the state company Cabotang, was carrying about 210 passengers.

Some survivors said the ferry was overloaded and that the crew was asleep when the boat either hit rocks or a sand bank 400 yards offshore, the radio reported.