God rescues drowning ferry

By Elkass I.L Sannoh

The invivncible hand of God is said to have played a key part in rescuing a passenger ferry plying the Sierra Leone waters to and fro Lungi International Airport from drowning this weekend.

MV Ferry, one of five passenger ferries plying the waters of Sierra Leone, was reportedly overloaded with heavy vehicles and passengers when it set sail on rough waters in the evening hours of Saturday from Kissy Terminal in the east end of Freetown heading for Lungi.

According to reports, the MV Ferry was supposed to land at Lungi in 30 minutes but didn’t, and instead drifted away by rough waters.

Passengers were said to be frightened and perplexed and offering prayers as the ferry continued to drift aimlessly. And God seemed to have heard their prayers as the Captain miraculously found his way back to the Tagrin Terminal.

According to officials at the control tower, the MV Ferry may have missed its destination point due to the rough waters, but said it is not uncommon especially in the rainy season.

Speaking exclusively to AYV, one of the ferry workers nick named ‘Government’, said the issue of overloading is something he has recommended to management to look into as there is no policy regarding that.

One of the passengers Ms. Veronica Aisha Musa, who said she was in the ferry with her colleagues from Fourah Bay College who were going to the Airport  to receive their friends in the  department of Early Childhood and Education who went in the United States of America on a Students Exchange Program, said apart from the fact that the bad weather made them missed their destination, the Ferry management was a contributing factor as it has become habitual for them to ‘overload the passengers like sardines’. She called on the Ministry of Transport and Aviation to look into the manner in which the Ferry management is treating passengers.

Meanwhile, the passengers were unanimous in their gratefulness to God for saving their lives.