STONE TOWN, Tanzania ? More than 200 bodies have been recovered after a crowded ferry sank off Tanzania's coast and some 600 have been rescued, an official said Sunday, figures that indicate the boat was filled beyond capacity.
Relatives had claimed 192 bodies and 28 more were awaiting identification on Sunday, said Mohammed Aboud Mohammed, the minister for state in the vice president's office on the island of Zanzibar. He said around 600 people had been rescued so far.
Survivors said the M.V. Spice Islanders, which sank early Saturday near the tourist destination of Zanzibar, was well beyond its official capacity of 600 passengers.
The bodies have been taken to a sports field, where imams are saying prayers and the bodies are being washed and wrapped in white according to Islamic custom. The government is paying for all funeral costs, he said.
Weeping families walked among them looking for their loved ones, falling into each others' arms if they recognized a relative or neighbor. Most of the corpses were wrapped in cloth with a photo of the face placed on the front. Some of the ship's passengers were mutilated when cargo fell on top of them when the boat began to list.
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.
The island of Zanzibar, a top tourist destination, is observing three days of mourning. Flags are flying at half-mast and radio and television stations are playing readings of the Quran instead of music.
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