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Lucky survivor found in air pocket of sunken Tanzania ferry two days after 218 people perished in Lake Victoria tragedy

Workers rescued an engineer who had managed to locate a pocket of air in the vessel

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A rescue diver, right, searches in the water for bodies. Photo: AP
Associated Press

It was a stunning discovery. As rescue divers probed a capsized Tanzanian ferry two days after the disaster and the death toll soared to at least 218, a man was found in an air pocket, alive.

He was an engineer, regional commissioner John Mongella said.

As the badly overloaded ferry overturned on Thursday in the final stretch before reaching shore, the man shut himself into the engine room which held a pocket of air in the vessel.

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Video footage on Saturday showed the man, barefoot and head lolling, carried quickly along a busy street by medical workers and military personnel as a siren wailed. His condition was not immediately known.

No further survivors were likely. State broadcaster TBC said late on Saturday the death toll had reached 218.

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Search efforts were ending so the focus could turn to identifying the dead, Tanzania’s defence chief Venance Mabeyo said.

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