Gambia ferry officials to come up with new measures after deadly accident

Gambia Ports Authorities will come up with new measures to avert ferry disasters, officials said on Monday. They will put in place soon after the deadly ferry accident that claimed the life of a Belgian national and injured several passengers at Banjul-Barra ferry terminal on Sunday evening. The measures include break testing and other mechanical testing, Port officials told Xinhua. Police have confirmed that more than 13 people sustained injuries in the ferry accident. The driver, a Senegalese national, is said to be under the police custody for investigation of the accident. "It is high time for authorities to come up with a measures to control the terminal which is under a serious threat at the moment due to poor ferry service, otherwise it can cause another big disaster," said one of the victims on his hospital bed. "The service is poor and people have complained it for several times since last year, but the authorities didn't pay any attention to it," the victim complained. The ferry service in the West African country is one of the poorest, with ferries taking hours instead of 30 minutes before anchoring at the other bank of the terminal, which is seven km away.