Today in History: The MV Le Joola capsizes, killing thousands
Of more than 600 women on board, only one woman, Mariama Diouf, survived; she was pregnant at the time.
On this day in 2002, a ship capsized and only 64 of more than 1 800 passengers were rescued, making it one of the worst maritime disasters in history.
At about 1.30pm on 26 September, 2002, Le Joola set sail from Ziguinchor in the Casamance region on one of its frequent trips between southern Senegal and Dakar. Although the ship was designed to carry a maximum of 580 passengers and crew, an estimated 1 863 passengers are believed to have been on board, including 185 people who boarded the ship from Carabane, an island where there was no formal port of entry or exit for passengers.
The exact number of all passengers remains unknown (some Senegalese-based organisations put the number at over 2 000), but there were 1 034 travellers with tickets. The rest of the passengers were either not required to hold tickets (children aged less than five) or had been permitted to travel for free, as often happened.
The last call from the ferry staff was broadcast to a maritime security centre in Dakar at 10pm and reported good travelling conditions. At about 11pm, the ship sailed into a storm off the coast of Gambia. As a result of the rough seas and wind, the ferry capsized, throwing passengers and cargo into the sea within five minutes.
While many of the ship’s passengers may have died during or immediately following the capsizing, a large number probably survived, only to drown while awaiting rescue. Government rescue teams did not arrive at the scene until the morning following the accident.
Some time before official rescue teams arrived, local fishermen with pirogues in the area of the tragedy started the first efforts to pull survivors out of the water. They were able to rescue a few people, also recovering several bodies that were floating around the Le Joola.
The Le Joola remained capsized but afloat until nearly 3am, at which point it finally sank, stern first, taking with it those who were unable to get off the ship. Only 64 passengers survived.
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