The provisional toll of a sinking of a small ferry on Thursday off the coast of Gabon has risen to six dead and 31 missing and the wreckage now located should make it possible to return other remains to grieving families who have been waiting for them at the dock for more of four days.
Dozens of relatives of the disappeared and many Gabonese who have come to support them are camping on the quay of Port Môle, the commercial port of the capital Libreville transformed into a burning chapel, from where the Esther Miracle had sailed.
The pain gave way to nervousness and anger, the families reproaching the authorities for not informing them and the helpers for having intervened too late, even if 124 of the 161 officially registered passengers and crew members were able to be come out alive from the waters.
Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba declared three days of national mourning on March 14, 15 and 16, in a speech broadcast Monday evening on national television.
At the same time, social networks and the media are on fire to question the state of the ship and the navigation authorizations issued to this mixed cargo and passenger transport boat from the private company Royal Cost Marine (RCM).
Its age is unknown, the RCM being unreachable, but it had been inaugurated in November after the development of a cabin for passengers, according to the website of the shipowner at prices lower than other companies between Libreville and the oil port of Port Nice, 150 km further south.
An administrative investigation and a criminal investigation have been opened to determine the causes of the sinking. The authorities and the prosecution refuse to discuss the subject at this stage.
The ship sank in the middle of the night when the sea and weather were relatively calm, according to several fishermen and shipowners interviewed by AFP.
The wreckage was located on Sunday “at a depth of 30 m and in a sitting position”, Captain Békélé Meyong, research coordinator, told Gabon Première public television on Monday. He located the wreck 10 km off the coast near the entrance to the gulf that is home to Libreville.
The day before, Prime Minister Alain-Claude Bilie-By-Nze had promised the families that the search would not stop until the boat had been located since we were not “sure of having brought up all the body”.
Since Saturday, Port Môle has taken on the appearance of a large burning chapel when the authorities, pressed by the indignant testimonies on the social networks of families who camped there day and night and said they were “abandoned”, began to erect tents and strengthen a starving psychological cell in the early days of the drama.
In her flamboyant yellow loincloth, Collette kneels down and lights a white candle which she places on the bed of wax covering the asphalt under the gaze fixed on photos of the victims of the shipwreck.
“I come in solidarity, to pray and help. We are several associations to distribute food and water”, explains this educational inspector.
“List of missing relatives,” reads a wooden sign displaying 31 names.
White plastic chairs are arranged under three barnums. Monday, faced with the crowds, a fourth was installed as well as toilets and a generator.
A hundred people follow one another to light candles, lay flowers and offerings. Under the tents, some pray in silence, others sing their despair in prayer.
His megaphone in hand, Jeef Bantsantsa, criss-crosses the port. This 30-year-old, spokesperson for the family support collective, gives an update twice a day on research. His “little sister” has not yet been found.
“We want answers. No one has come to us. From here, you can easily see what’s going on,” he explains.
“It’s pathetic. For a rescue of this magnitude, we haven’t even seen the minimum,” says Eve Mouanambatsi, 49, from a family of four missing.
“The distress alert was launched at 2 a.m. from the boat and we remember that the public authority did nothing at all. It took a private boat!”, She gets angry, referring to the barge of a private company arrived, according to survivors and their families, several hours after the sinking.
“We know that there is no hope to find them alive but we need to recover their bodies”, breathes Fernande Akare, 32 years old. “I expect the investigation to know the real causes of the accident because there is too much speculation, we want the truth!”, She asserts.
03/13/2023 21:38:34 – Libreville (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
