Mohamed Sonnah a survivor of the Shenge boat accident has disclosed to Awoko how he spent 15 good hours in the sea after their boat sank before he was finally rescued.
A teacher at Ahmadiyya Primary School in Shenge Mohamed Sonnah recalled that he was heading for Freetown when he boarded the boat at Shenge to transit at Tombo. He said the cause of the accident was as a result of overloading and denial on the part of the Captain.
He said the boat was overloaded by the Captain to an extent that the buttocks of some of the passengers who sat at the edge of the boat touched the water. This he said was to the dismay of so many passengers but every complaint and raised eye brow at the situation fell on deaf ears.
“The captain even asked one man to disembark from the boat after he complained of the overload” Mohamed said.
“The boat did not capsized because tides were not very rough,” he said “it was the overload that caused the boat to sink into the water”
As he explained about the tragic incident with tears in his eyes Mohamed said he was traveling on board the boat along with his father, sister and other relatives but he was the only one who survived to tell the story.
“I had an inner tyre which five of us used to swim, but we could not get out of the sea to dry land. After several hours the rescue team came to our aid”.
“The boat sank at around 10: 00 am between Monkey Island and Shenge. I was at sea until 1:00pm the next day when the rescue team came to our aid” He explained.
“I have a very large family that my father has been taking care of, now that he is dead I am left to step in his shoes but it will be a difficult task for me”.
He called on government and other humanitarian bodies to come to his aid.