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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~