Overloading doomed ferry, investigators say

DAKAR, Senegal -- Backing earlier reports, military investigators identified overloading Wednesday as the key cause of Africa's deadliest-ever ferry disaster -- describing how the ship tumbled over when passengers rushed to one side to take cover from a storm.

Built to hold 600 passengers and crew, the MS Joola was carrying at least 1,034 people when it capsized last week.

Authorities said at least 970 were killed but the figure could be higher because there could have been many more people on board. Children under 5 would have gone unticketed, and, apparently, uncounted.

Sixty four people survived, and only one was a woman -- adding to indications of fierce struggles to escape the vessel.

The armed forces report also revealed that the first official alert saying the ferry could be in trouble was issued much later than earlier disclosed -- at 7 a.m. Friday, nearly 8 hours after the state-run ferry capsized.

The inquiry, ordered by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, blamed negligence throughout the chain of command, from the armed forces leaders responsible for the ferry's operation to those who oversaw the search.

The Joola, making a run from southern to northern Senegal, capsized in a fierce gale just before midnight Sept. 26.

Survivors describe hours clinging to the upturned, orange boat hull until the first help, fishing vessels, arrived.

The release of the report came a day after the resignation of the West African nation's transport and armed forces minister.

Because it was low season for tourists, the armed forces report said, there were very few cars and little freight in the ferry's hold -- weight which would have stabilized the ferry. Almost all the freight on board had been loaded on deck, investigators said.

Meanwhile, about 500 people were crowded on the top deck -- nearly as many as the entire ferry was meant to hold.

"When the ferry rode into a storm, the people on the top deck were suddenly confronted with strong rains and gales coming from starboard," the report said. "To get under cover, they moved in mass toward port."

That movement caused a final, fatal shift in the ferry's already precarious center of balance, investigators concluded.

Divers' film of the submerged wreck later showed lifeboats and other safety equipment were never released.

"That confirms the theory that the crew was surprised, and was not able to set off panic buttons," the report says.

In another preliminary report Wednesday, the Transport Ministry said the Joola's captain was certified as commander of a military vessel -- not enough, under international maritime standards, to skipper a merchant ship.

The ferry's commander was responsible for overseeing the loading of the vessel, ensuring that security measures were followed, and verifying the weather conditions before the ship left port, the Transport Ministry said.

Satellite images showed a mass of clouds just off the coast of Gambia at around 11 p.m. when the ship capsized, it said.

The captain died in the disaster.

After capsizing, the ferry stopped making its regular checks with authorities.

Regardless, "from midnight until 7 a.m., no real action was take to sound the alert and summon all the means of the armed forces," the military said.

The late alert and shortage of planes and proper equipment hindered the rescue effort, the report said.

Wade has pledged criminal prosecution for those deemed responsible, and has ordered military courts to begin action.

Bodies from the ferry were still washing ashore Wednesday, Interior Minister Mamadou Niang said.

Only 32 of the dead have been identified and returned to their families, he said. Hundreds more are still trapped inside the ferry.