Tanzania mourns after ferry disaster

STONE TOWN Tanzanians on Sunday began three days of national mourning for victims of a crowded ferry that sank off the popular tourist archipelago of Zanzibar, in which some 200 people have been confirmed dead.

Survivors said the M.V. Spice Islanders, which sank early on Saturday was well beyond its official capacity of 600 passengers.
Bodies of the deceased have been taken to a sports field, and were buried according to Islamic custom.
The ferry left Tanzania's commercial capital of Dar Es Salaam loaded with building materials, mattresses and passengers, survivors said. It stopped at the island of Zanzibar and then continued on to Pemba, a top diving destination. But it began to list in the early hours of Saturday, and eventually sank in an area of deep sea and strong currents.
Most survivors drifted ashore clinging to foam mattresses or wooden planks from the ferry. Some were plucked from the water by a flotilla of pleasure craft, wooden fishing dhows and yachts which set off from the beach Saturday to search for survivors.
The number of total passengers is still unclear and officials expect the death toll to rise.
Flags are flying at half-mast and radio and television stations are playing readings of the Quran instead of music.