10 years on, victims of Africa’s “Titanic” remember more than 1800 dead

DAKAR, Senegal — Ten years after one of the worst maritime disasters in history, the few survivors and dozens of families of the dead gathered in Senegal to pay homage to victims of the Joola, a Senegalese ferry that sank off the coast of Gambia, killing 1,863 people.

That’s 361 more than died when the Titanic went down, taking with it 1,502 people.

The Joola was overloaded with passengers and survivors say it was already listing from the excess weight on the night of Sept. 26, 2002, when it ran into a storm.

Survivors wept at the graves Wednesday. Among the 64 who made it out alive was Victor Djiba. He says he has been taking sleeping pills since 2002, because although he managed to get out, his friend traveling with him perished....