M A I N   N E W S

Ferry disaster toll may cross 700

Dakar, September 29
At least 350 persons are known dead and about the same number remain missing after a ferry sank off west Africa, including nationals from at least 10 countries, the Prime Minister’s office said.

Prime Minister Mame Madior Boye said 63 persons among the 796 aboard the ill-fated Le Joola had survived the shipwreck on Thursday, but the chances of finding any more survivors were “slim” in one of the world’s worst maritime disasters.

Boye’s office said in a statement late yesterday that the passengers included 20 from Guinea-Bissau, 10 from France, five Spaniards, two Belgians, two Dutch citizens, two Swiss, two Nigerians, one Lebanese and one from Burkina Faso. AFP