mzeiya
Elder Lister
Twenty years ago, the Joola, a Senegalese ferry capsized taking more than 1,800 lives. Only 64 people survived. It is the second-worst non-wartime maritime disaster in history. This is the story of Africa's Titanic.
A new BBC Africa documentary investigates what happened that day and why the survivors and the relatives of the victims, believe justice still has not been done.
On September 26 2002, the Joola had only just returned to service after being out for engine repair for more than a year.
The boat had been manufactured in Germany and first delivered to the Senegalese government back in 1990.
The Joola regularly sailed from a southern port of Senegal, Ziguinchor, to the capital in the north, Dakar.
It was a popular choice as it allowed travellers to circumvent the border checks that came with journeying through the Gambia and poor quality roads.
On the day of the disaster the boat became overloaded at Ziguinchor, yet more passengers boarded at the next port.
Lamine Coly was the only survivor of the 35 that had journeyed from his village. He remembers the chaos on board as they sailed in to a deadly storm.
Out of the nearly 2000 passengers, Mariama Diouf is the only woman to have survived what happened that day.
She recounts the terrifying build up of the storm and the extraordinary strength it took for her to survive.
444 children died when the Joola capsized. Elie Diatta's brother, Michel, ran a local football academy and had taken a group of children on a trip with him.
Michel escaped from the ship when it overturned, but didn't survive when he tried to save the children.
The tragedy impacted many families across Senegal including the national football team's now coach, Aliou Cissé.
He lost 11 members of his family on the Joola, including his sister.
Retired engineer and author, Pat Wiley has been researching what happened on the Joola for over a decade.
He believes negligence by the Senegalese government at the time, contributed to the scale of the disaster.
Mariama says it was the Gambian navy who helped her to shore and does not recall any support from the Senegalese authorities.
"We would be hurt but we would start to heal as well."
Elie Diatta and other relatives of those who died on the Joola want the wreckage raised to fully mourn the loss of their loved ones.
Senegal's government are yet to comment on whether they plan to do so.
This documentary is the first time Aliou Cissè has wanted to speak on camera about the tragedy.
He told us it's important that those who died know, "that we are still thinking of them."
A new BBC Africa documentary investigates what happened that day and why the survivors and the relatives of the victims, believe justice still has not been done.
On September 26 2002, the Joola had only just returned to service after being out for engine repair for more than a year.
The boat had been manufactured in Germany and first delivered to the Senegalese government back in 1990.
The Joola regularly sailed from a southern port of Senegal, Ziguinchor, to the capital in the north, Dakar.
It was a popular choice as it allowed travellers to circumvent the border checks that came with journeying through the Gambia and poor quality roads.
On the day of the disaster the boat became overloaded at Ziguinchor, yet more passengers boarded at the next port.
Lamine Coly was the only survivor of the 35 that had journeyed from his village. He remembers the chaos on board as they sailed in to a deadly storm.
Out of the nearly 2000 passengers, Mariama Diouf is the only woman to have survived what happened that day.
She recounts the terrifying build up of the storm and the extraordinary strength it took for her to survive.
444 children died when the Joola capsized. Elie Diatta's brother, Michel, ran a local football academy and had taken a group of children on a trip with him.
Michel escaped from the ship when it overturned, but didn't survive when he tried to save the children.
The tragedy impacted many families across Senegal including the national football team's now coach, Aliou Cissé.
He lost 11 members of his family on the Joola, including his sister.
Retired engineer and author, Pat Wiley has been researching what happened on the Joola for over a decade.
He believes negligence by the Senegalese government at the time, contributed to the scale of the disaster.
Mariama says it was the Gambian navy who helped her to shore and does not recall any support from the Senegalese authorities.
"We would be hurt but we would start to heal as well."
Elie Diatta and other relatives of those who died on the Joola want the wreckage raised to fully mourn the loss of their loved ones.
Senegal's government are yet to comment on whether they plan to do so.
This documentary is the first time Aliou Cissè has wanted to speak on camera about the tragedy.
He told us it's important that those who died know, "that we are still thinking of them."
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