69 drowned in boat tragedy
At least 69 people drowned, 20 were missing and 36 injured after a boat carrying than 20 capsized as it left the main harbor of Red Sea state of Djiboti on Thursday, hospital sources said.
Mohammed Said Median, director of emergency services at the Tapellettier Hospital where most of the victims were brought, said that 69 people had lost their lives and that seven of the 36 injured were suffering from serious wounds.
At least 77 people escaped without injury, he said.
There were conflicting account of the death toll from official Djiboti sources.
A spokeswoman for the foreign ministry said at least 66 people had died while state television quoted the interior ministry as saying that at least 62 people had died.
Television reports said the boat, a traditional wooden vessel, was carrying between 250 to 300 people when the accident occurred around midday as it left Djiboti -Agance France-Press.