An overloaded ferry leaving Zanzibar for the adjacent island of Pemba capsized in the early hours of Saturday after apparently losing power. The ferry was carrying as many as 800 people, of whom nearly 250 drowned.
The Pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, sent a telegram expressing the Holy Father’s sadness and his closeness to those affected by the tragedy.
The telegram gives assurances of his prayers asking consolation for those who suffer, and for all the people of Tanzania.
