At least 100 people have been killed after a Tanzanian passenger ferry capsized on Lake Victoria.
Initial estimates suggested as many as 300 people were on the MV Nyerere when it went down on Thursday afternoon.
Thirty-seven people were rescued from the sea, a regional official told The Associated Press.
“I cannot speculate” how many people were on board, John Mongella said. “Right now our focus is on rescue.”
More rescuers joined the operation when it resumed at daylight on Friday, Reuters reported.
Such ferries often carry hundreds of passengers and are overcrowded.
The Tanzania Electrical, Mechanical and Electronics Services Agency, in charge of servicing the vessels, urged patience in a statement as rescue efforts began.
The ferry was travelling between Ukara and Bugolora and capsized near the area of Mwanza.
Accidents are often reported on the large freshwater lake, which is surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.
Some of the deadliest have occurred in Tanzania, where passenger boats are often said to be old and in poor condition.
In 1996, more than 800 people died when the passenger and cargo ferry MV Bukoba sank on Lake Victoria.
Nearly 200 people died in 2011 when the MV Spice Islander I sank off Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast near Zanzibar.
