Maputo — 11 people are still missing after a fishing boat, the "Perola II", sank on Monday a few kilometres from the central Mozambican port of Beira.

The boat set out from Chiloane island, a major fishing centre, on Sunday night, carrying 21 passengers and crew. The "Perola II" sank at about 04.00 on Monday morning.

The causes of the accident are not known, but Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias" suggests that the boat was in shallow water and hit something metallic on the sea bed. A second hypothesis is that the crew somehow steered the boat onto a sandbank.

Rescue teams took ten crew and passengers to safety on Monday, leaving 11 unaccounted for. It is feared that they may still be trapped inside the vessel. Poor weather conditions have made it difficult for the rescue teams to continue their work.

Relatives and friends of the missing waited anxiously on Monday night on Beira's Estoril beach, from where it was possible to see the mast of the sunken boat.