11 January 2008
Maputo — The maritime authorities in the central Mozambican province of Sofala have called off the search for further survivors or bodies following the sinking of a fishing boat, the "Perola II", a few kilometres from the port of Beira.
The boat set out from Chiloane island, a major fishing centre, on the night of 30 December, carrying 21 passengers and crew. It sank, due to unknown causes, at about 04.00 on the morning of 31 December.
11 survivors were rescued by another fishing vessel, the "Sesimbra". When rescuers were eventually able to enter the sunken vessel, they found three bodies of crew members in the engine room.
There was no sign of the other seven people known to have been on board. Families and friends of the missing had been waiting for news for ten days on a Beira beach.
The Sofala Maritime Administration had to tell them on Thursday that there would be no further searches, and that their loved ones are now presumed dead.
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