The ferry passengers were fleeing fighting in the city of Malakal. Photograph: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images
More than 200 women and children drowned when their overloaded boat capsized on the Nile as they scrambled to escape fighting in South Sudan, officials said on Tuesday.
In a disaster shocking even by the standards of the month-long warfare racking the world's youngest country, only two people, male crew members, are believed to have survived.
The South Sudanese government described the tragedy as heartbreaking, and was quick to blame rebel forces for causing the panicked stampede to the river.
Lieutenant-colonel Philip Aguer, a military spokesman, said the incident happened last Saturday when fighters loyal to rebel leader Riek Machar gave a warning that they would attack the town of Malakal. This prompted a chaotic mass exodus by residents, who are of Shilluk ethnicity.
"People tried to cross to their villages on the other side of the river," Aguer said. "Women and children were put on board and the boat was filled with much more than its capacity. It sank and between 200 and 300 people died. They were nearly all women and children; there were a few men but we don't know how many. Only two people survived."
Aguer described it as the worst single loss of life in South Sudan's two-and-a-half year history, adding: "This is a real human disaster." He was not aware of the identity of the ferry owner or whether action will be taken against them. "Maybe if the situation is stabilised he can be traced."
President Salva Kiir's spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, said a condolence message would be issued to the nation on Wednesday. "It's very unfortunate, the magnitude of what has happened to the women and children," he said. "All of this will go to Riek Machar in terms of trying to use a short cut to power.
"The rebels caused panic by saying they would attack Malakal. The civilians tried to squeeze themselves out. They overwhelmed the boat and it capsized in the middle of the Nile. Many women and children don't know how to swim and they drowned. It's very heartbreaking."
The death toll highlighted the human cost of a conflict that began as a bitter struggle between politicians in South Sudan's ruling party and quickly led to the exploitation of ethnic divisions between Dinka and Nuer, dragging the fledgling nation towards civil war. Peace talks in neighbouring Ethiopia have borne little fruit.
Edmund Yakani, director of the independent Community Empowerment Progress Organisation, said: "This is the impact of too much delay of the ceasefire by the competing parties. The more they delay, the more people suffer tragedies like the sinking of a boat with more than 200 people, mainly women and children, who are innocents.
"It is shameless and meaningless for our politicians to take us back to a situation where we can't manage our own independent state. It is friction between politicians who are taking us back to where we don't want to be as citizens."
Up to 10,000 people are believed to have been killed in the violence, aid sources and analysts estimate. It has also displaced 413,000, according to the UN. Many have sought safety by crowding into barges and canoes at various points along the White Nile.
Some families have been forced to sell all their possessions so they can afford the inflated crossing fee. There have been cases of people falling overboard amid the chaos and drowning, according to witnesses.
Grace Cahill, humanitarian spokesperson for Oxfam, said she had seen more than 1,000 people a day arriving by boat in Awerial to escape the fighting in Bor. "The crossing is very dangerous, taking anywhere between seven and 12 hours – this is because of all the tributaries of the Nile which must be navigated," she explained.
"I have heard of around 10 deaths on the crossing – mostly from boats capsizing and people drowning, one from a child crushed by luggage. The water is also home to crocodiles which pose another risk. The boats are anywhere in size from a large motor powered boat which could carry maybe 100 people to dug out canoes carrying at most two plus some luggage."
Malakal, the state capital of oil-producing Upper Nile state, has already changed hands twice since the conflict began and its fate was unclear on Tuesday night. Rebel spokesman Lul Ruai Kong, speaking in neighbouring Ethiopia, claimed the insurgents had "recaptured Malakal", but this was disputed by Aguer, who acknowledged rebels had entered the town but insisted they were forced back.
Aguer also said there had also been a four-hour battle on Monday near Bor as the national army slowly advances on the rebel-held town. He admitted: "We cannot end the war. This is a political power struggle. After the failed coup attempt by Riek Machar, it has turned into almost guerrilla style. We can capture all the towns but that will not be the end. It needs a political solution to finish it for good."
Kong alleged that Uganda is supporting Kiir's government, with Ugandan helicopters and fighter jets bombing rebel positions. Another pro-rebel official, Gideon Gatpan Thaor, said fighters described being hit with a smoky weapon that burns, possibly white phosphorous.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/14/at-least-200-drown-south-sudan-ferry-accident
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