A FERRY sank off Mozambique’s northern coast on Sunday, killing more than 90 people, local media reported.

The overcrowded boat was carrying 130 people and many of the drowned were children, according to TV Diario Nampula, a local online outlet. 

The boat was operating between Lunga and the Island of Mozambique in Nampula province in the north of the country when it capsized, the report said.

Rescue efforts continued on Monday as people were still reportedly missing.

Some had been travelling to attend a fair while others were trying to “flee from Lunga to the Island of Mozambique for fear of being contaminated by cholera, which has affected that region in recent days,” TV Diario Nampula reported.

Other news reports quoted Jaime Neto, the secretary of state in Nampula province, as saying that misinformation about an alleged cholera outbreak caused people to panic and board the boat, which ordinarily serves as a fishing vessel, in an attempt to flee.

Mozambique and neighbouring southern African countries Zimbabwe and Malawi have in recent months been affected by a deadly cholera outbreak that authorities are battling to contain.

Many areas of Mozambique are only accessible by boat. The country has a poor road network and some areas are unreachable by land or air.