BANJUL, Oct 5 (AFP) - The west African state of Gambia has sharply reduced
the number of passengers allowed to board ferries and tightened other
rules, port officials said Saturday.
   The decision came in the wake of modern Africa's worst maritime tragedy
on September 26, when about 1,000 people drowned after an overloaded
Senegalese ferry capsized in the Atlantic off the Gambian coast.
   The Gambia Port Authority announced that the maximum number of
passengers allowed to board ferries will be reduced from 600 to 400.
   Ferries ply the broad mouth of the Gambia river between Bajul and Barra
and 300 kilometres (185 miles) upstream from the capital at Farafenni.
   Passengers will always be told to leave their vehicles during crossings
and all must travel with identity papers to ensure that manifests can be
kept properly, officials said.
   The Senegalese ferry, Le Joola, was Saturday being towed into Senegal's
territorial waters.
   Only 64 people were rescued when the vessel overturned in bad weather as
it made its way from Senegal's Casamance province, south of Gambia, to the
Senegalese capital Dakar to the north.
   Preliminary investigations have shown that Le Joola was far too crowded
and that several security regulations were breached.

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