Tanzania deploys divers on Lake Malawi
Tanzania has deployed divers to search for bodies of people who died when the wooden boat, Marine Vessel (MV) Mapenza sunk on Lake Malawi at dawn on Saturday.
Yesterday afternoon, Tanzanian High Commissioner Victoria Richard Mwakasege announced the launch of the search operation comprising 15 divers and three speedboats at Nkhata Bay port.
The envoy, who refused to speak to the media, has been in the shoreline town since Monday and spent yesterday morning meeting Tanzanian businesspersons who expressed frustration over the lukewarm manner Malawi government has reacted to the emergency.
The 30-tonne boat was sailing from Mbamba Bay in Tanzania to Nkhata Bay with 12 people and 23 tonnes of business merchandise on board when some passengers sounded an SOS to on-shore colleagues at dawn on Saturday.
The search comes two days after Tanzanian tycoon Dubelli Zubeli deployed a boat to locate the remains of his boat and the passengers, seven of whom are said to be his compatriots plying their trade in Nkhata Bay. n
