One Tanzanian fisherman drowns, 19 others rescued after boat capsizes in Indian Ocean

One Tanzanian fisherman drowned Thursday night and 19 others were rescued by Zanzibar’s special anti-smuggling unit after their boat capsized in the Indian Ocean, an official confirmed Friday.

Kassim Khalfan, who heads a beach management unit in Mkinga district along the Indian Ocean coast region of Tanga, said the boat in which the fishermen were sailing developed a hole that allowed water to fill in.

One of the fishermen phoned members of the Zanzibar special anti-smuggling unit, who responded without delay, Khalfan said.

“Members of the Zanzibar special anti-smuggling unit managed to rescue 19 fishermen but it was too late for one of the fishermen who drowned after he had failed to swim,” he said.

Maulid Surumbu, the Mkinga district commissioner, thanked the Zanzibar anti-smuggling unit for its timely and brave action that led to the rescue of the 19 fishermen