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| S Leone boat tragedy 'kills 50' | S Leone boat tragedy 'kills 50' |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| At least 50 people have reportedly died after a boat capsized in a storm off the Sierra Leone coast. | |
| More than 100 people are said to be missing after the Amunafa encountered bad weather at the mouth of the Great Scarcies River near the Guinea border. | |
| The AFP news agency says the boat had sailed from the capital, Freetown, and was powered by outboard motors. | The AFP news agency says the boat had sailed from the capital, Freetown, and was powered by outboard motors. |
| But Sierra Leone's police chief Brima Acha Kamara says he is not aware of the reported accident. | |
| Two people are said to have survived, while seven bodies have been recovered from the water, a spokesman for a local boat owners' association said, according to Reuters news agency. | |
| August is the height of the rainy season in West Africa and violent storms are common. | |
| The BBC's Umaru Fofana in Freetown says many people, especially traders in Sierra Leone have little choice except to use dug-out canoes to get around and transport their goods. | The BBC's Umaru Fofana in Freetown says many people, especially traders in Sierra Leone have little choice except to use dug-out canoes to get around and transport their goods. |
| He says these are often overcrowded, with little care for passenger safety. | He says these are often overcrowded, with little care for passenger safety. |
| In June, at least 19 people died when a helicopter crashed taking passengers to the airport from Freetown. |