By Ebi Kesiena
Three children are among the seventeen persons still unaccounted for after the boat they were traveling in crashed in a river in central Malawi on Wednesday night.
“The accident happened at midnight on Wednesday when a group of people was going to a funeral in the nearby village and their boat sank,” Fred Movete, Mchinji district commissioner said.
Movete said the boat with 22 people and their belongings on board sank due to overloading, adding the boat had the capacity to accommodate 10 people.
Five people were able to swim to land.
On Thursday, additional rescuers are anticipated to begin a search expedition for the missing people.
Authorities in the area are currently encouraging locals to stay away from sailing in flooded rivers.
According to Anadolu agency, a survivor, Chrissy Govati, noted over the telephone that the boat sank in the middle of the river.
“Other passengers drowned but I tried hard to stay afloat. Dead tired, when I gave up hope from nowhere a well-wisher held my hand and pulled me out of the water,” Govati said.
Following a terrible tropical cyclone last month that claimed 511 lives and left 533 more unaccounted for, Malawi needs international aid.
