At least 15 people were feared dead on Friday night after their small fibre fishing boat capsized at the Kigamboni creek near Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam, police said on Saturday.

Brighton Monyo, Assistant Commissioner of the Fire and Rescue Department, said the accident occurred at around 7 p.m. local time when people opted to ride on small fishing boats after public ferries had developed technical glitches.

"We suspect there were between 15 and 20 people in the boat travelling between the central business district and the Kigamboni peninsula," said Monyo.

However, Monyo said police called off the search for survivors or bodies of those involved in the grisly accident at 4.30 p.m. on Saturday.

He said the decision to call off the search was reached after the rescue team managed to pull off two bodies with signs of getting more bodies not in sight.

"We have covered large part of the ocean but we could not get any more survivors. We have asked fishermen to alert us in case they found more bodies," said Monyo.

Eyewitnesses said people opted to travel in fishing boats after public ferries failed to operate.

"If you had come here yesterday (Friday) evening you could have seen how people were desperate to ride in the small boats," said one eyewitness who preferred to remain anonymous.

He said seven people escaped death, adding that three of them were still at the hospital receiving treatment.

Source: XINHUA