March 09, 2004, 17:15
About 100 people were feared dead after a ferry they were travelling on failed to arrive in Madagascar as scheduled after a tropical cyclone hit the giant Indian Ocean island, officials said today.
No word had been heard from the ferry nicknamed Samson since Sunday evening. It had been due to arrive on the island yesterday morning, according to shipping companies based in the northwestern town of Mahajanga. Madagascar's state radio said yesterday that 18 people were killed and at least 50 000 left homeless in what was likely to be the country's worst cyclone in 10 years. Local media said it was too early to assess the full death toll.
The last contact with the ferry was on Sunday night when it was cruising 90 nautic miles North of Mahajanga, the second commercial port of Madagascar. The ferry belongs to a local shipowner, according to shipping sources. An official with a fishing company told reporters that the ferry had left the Comoran island of Anjouan for Mahajanga, where about 30 000 immigrants from Comoros, a chain of tiny Indian Ocean island's, live.
"Many family members and friends of the passengers have been waiting at the port, where the boat was expected to arrive on Monday morning," said the fishing company official.
Marcel Ranjeva, the foreign minister, appealed yesterday for international aid for the vanilla-producing island. Madagascar issued a cyclone alert on Saturday as Gafilo approached, gaining speeds of up to 200 kph (124 mph). Gafilo made landfall late on Sunday before churning across the northern part of the island, destroying buildings, uprooting trees and flooding towns.
Twenty-nine people were killed last month when cyclone Elita hit the island off southeast Africa, TropicalStormRisk.com said. - Reuters
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