8 people on the drowned vessel are reported to have swam ashore
Search and rescue operations were underway on Friday after a boat laden with dozens of people, many of them children, capsized in rough waters off the coast of northern Mozambique, local media reported.
The boat was sailing from the port city of Nacala to Memba town, around 80 kilometres north, when it capsized.
"Around 30 people were on board the vessel, according to available information," Juma Cadria, the administrator of the Memba district, told public radio.
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Eight people swam ashore, "but the information is still preliminary," Cadria added.
Earlier the same station had reported that more than 60 people, mostly children, were missing following the accident.
Local officials did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.
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