At least three people are still unaccounted for in the shipwreck that caused the same number of deaths on Monday morning off Moma, Nampula province in northern Mozambique, an official source told Luce on Tuesday.
“Work is ongoing to see if there are any more survivors among the three who remain missing,” said Louse Abakar Chande, administrator of the Moma district.
The ship, owned by Haiyu Mining, a Chinese heavy sands exploration company in the region, sank around 6:00 am local time (5:00 am in Lisbon). More than 20 people were on board, mostly employees of the company, according to Moma. district administrator.
Thanks to the actions of the authorities, five more people have been rescued in the last 24 hours, bringing the number of survivors to 21.
“The situation on the ground is calm but still worrying,” the administrator added.
Overcrowding and bad weather felt in the region are cited as possible causes of the shipwreck, which killed at least three of the people on the Chinese company’s ship.
The Chinese company Haiyu has been exploring heavy sands in Nampul since 2011, from which it extracts minerals such as ilmenite, titanium and zircon.
In 2018, the company was the subject of a report by Amnesty International that denounced violations of Mozambican and international laws, pointing out that Chinese operations in Nampula “changed the area’s topography” and in 2015 rain washed away 48 houses, displacing 290 people.
Several Mozambican civil society organizations demanded the suspension of the Chinese company.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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