Survivor found 2 days after Tanzania ferry capsize, toll hits 170
Dar Es Salaam, Sep 22: Rescuers working to retrieve bodies from a ferry that sank in Lake Victoria in Tanzania found a survivor on Saturday, two days after the tragedy took place, although the death toll rose to 170.
According to Tanzanian news outlet The Citizen, a man was found alive in an air pocket in the upturned vessel on the same day when another 24 bodies were recovered from the scene of the accident.
MV Nyerere sunk between the islands of Ukerewe and Ukara on Thursday with around 400 passengers onboard -- nearly four times the legal capacity. So far rescuers have confirmed only around 40 survivors.
President John Magufuli declared three days of national mourning and ordered the vessel's crew and managers from the state company that operates the ferry service arrested for questioning, Efe news reported.
Preliminary investigations showed that the state-owned ferry was overloaded and was being manned by someone who was not the authorized captain of the vessel. The vessel capsized just 50 meters (164 feet) from the shore.
Victoria, Africa's largest lake, is shared by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The Tanzanian portion of the lake was the scene in 1996 of one of the worst shipwrecks of the 20th century, the sinking of the ferry MV Bukoba, which left an estimated 615 people dead.
There has been public outrage over the decision made by regional authorities of Mwanza Region, whose north borders Lake Victoria, to call off the search and rescue operation after dark on Thursday.
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Ramdas Athawale backs Fadnavis as Maharashtra CM; says Shinde can shift to Centre
New Delhi, Nov 26: RPI(A) leader Ramdas Athawale, a key BJP ally, on Tuesday called for a quick decision on the next chief minister of Maharashtra and suggested that incumbent Eknath Shinde should shift to the Centre as a Union minister.
Addressing a press conference here, Athawale also backed senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as the next chief minister of Maharashtra, contending that the saffron party won the maximum number of seats in the 288-member Assembly and should have the right to the top executive post in the state.
He said a peculiar situation has arisen in Maharashtra where BJP leaders want Fadnavis as the chief minister, while Shiv Sena leaders want Shinde to continue in the post, citing the good work he has done over the last two and a half years.
Athawale, the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, said NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has declared that he was not in the race for the chief minister.
"We need to resolve this matter, without any further delay. The election results were announced on November 23 and we should have had the oath of the new chief minister on November 26, the Constitution Day," Athawale said.
Backing Fadnavis for the post of chief minister, Athawale said Shinde can become the deputy chief minister or shift to the Centre and join the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Athawale said his RPI(A) has a presence in every part of the state, but unfortunately lost the two seats -- Dharavi and Kalina -- offered to it in the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections.
He demanded that an RPI member be made an MLC and a minister in the state government.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won a landslide victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections winning 235 seats in the 288-member House. The BJP won 132 seats, followed by Shinde-led Shiv Sena (57) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP (41). Smaller parties, who are part of the alliance, won five seats.
