1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Senegal
  • News

Report blames army for delay in Joola rescue

Country Map - Senegal (Casamance) IRIN
Senegal's troubled Casamance province
A commission of inquiry into the accident in which the Senegalese vessel MV Le Joola capsized off the coast of The Gambia on 26 September, has said a delay by the army to rescue those on board led to the death of most of the 1,153 victims. News organisations on Wednesday quoted the inquiry's report as saying the army chief of staff, Babacar Gueye, told the inquiry there had been no point in sending out military aircraft to look for survivors nine hours after the boat sank. Fishermen in the area were able to pull 64 survivors from the sea immediately after Le Joola capsized at about 23:00 GMT and some survivors indicated that a speedy rescue operation could have saved many lives. The inquiry also found that the boat was carrying double the number of passengers it was designed for and said that the ferry did not "conform to international regulations regarding safety equipment", the BBC reported. The report further blamed the accident on lack of training for the crew, failure of the captain to carry out standard stability calculations before leaving the port and inadequate emergency rafts faulty radio equipment, news organisations said. Following the disaster, the Minister of Equipment and Transportation Youssou Sakho and Minister of Armed Forces Youba Sambou resigned. President Abdoulaye Wade also later sacked the country's navy chief, Ousseynou Combo. His decision, according local news agencies had been based on information he had received indicating mismanagement within the navy. On Monday this week, Wade sacked Prime Minister Mame Madior Boye a move news reports said was linked to her initial dismissal of government responsibility in the accident. President Wade also dissolved parliament. "The position of Mame Boye as prime minister has been ended," state-radio quoted a presidential decree as saying. "As a consequence the duties of other ministers have also ended," it added. Wade has appointed a new premier Idrissa Seck, a member of his Senegalese Democratic Party. MV Le Joola, which had been out of commission for more than a year, was declared safe to sail again in early September. The vessel shuttled between Zinguinchor in the Casamance region of southern Senegal and Dakar, providing a vital alternate to road travel from Casamance, where banditry and landmines make road transport unsafe.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join