Boat drifts onto Mafia Island with 14 dead people and 22 stowaways after engines failed in the Indian Ocean

At least 14 people have died in the Indian Ocean and 22 others rescued, when their stowaway boat malfunctioned in the middle of the sea rendering them marooned for nearly 10 days, without provisions.

Authorities at the Mafia Island where their fiber boat had drifted to, managed to rescue 22 other passengers who were in pathetic condition after starving for over 8 days, after their vessel engines failed.

The Mafia District Commissioner, Aziza Mangosongo, said the stowaways were discovered on the shores of Kungwi Village within the Baleni Ward, many of them being unconscious, ill and starved.

It seems the 40 feet long​, Grey and white, unregistered and unmarked, fiberglass boat, which was powered by a Yamaha Engine, had carried 36 passengers.

According to the Mafia District Commissioner, the 22 people who were rescued from the sea are of mixed nationalities, some hailing from Burundi, others from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the rest from Comoros.

There were 9 men, 8 women and 5 children aboard.​ They had no passports or any form of identification.

They were rushed to the hospital to be given first aid as well as other necessary forms of medical treatment.

They were also provided with food and water to regain their energy and composure.

But after suffering the scary ordeal at sea, where they witnessed fellow passengers dying helplessly, a number of the rescued seafarers seemed confused and traumatized.

They are yet to reveal where exactly they had set sail from, who owned the boat and why they risked their lives sailing long distances in deep waters using a small, unreliable vessel.

Early reports reveal that the stowaways were traveling from the Tanzanian mainland heading to the Comoros.

However, for some reasons, their boat failed to make it into the Comoros.

Later they started targeting the Mayotte Island where, according to them, it would have been easier to get to France.

But they also couldn’t make it there and their boat was pushed by waves towards another Island where the engine failed, either due to malfunctioning or maybe running out of fuel.

The passengers were thus left at the mercy of the winds, water currencies and waves.

They remained adrift for over ten days, eight of which without supplies.

During that period 14 fellow passengers died at sea.