Boat sinks off Cameroon

At least 127 people were feared drowned after a wooden boat travelling from Nigeria to Gabon sank off Cameroon's Atlantic port of Kribi, a local official and aid workers said yesterday.

The boat, which broke up in high seas, was discovered by a fisherman who alerted his colleagues and people living in coastal villages who rushed to the scene to find bodies floating on the water and survivors hanging on to flotsam.

"By the time we called security agents and reached the area, a group of fishermen and villagers had already mobilised and were trying to rescue passengers," said Gregoire Mvodo, a senior local official in Kribi.

"Unfortunately almost all of them perished. Thanks to the very hard working and tireless fishermen, we succeeded in saving 23 people," he said.