It is one of the heaviest known civilian shipwrecks. On September 26, 2002, the Senegalese ferry Le Joola sank off the coast of Gambia within minutes, taking almost all of her 2,000 passengers with her. Despite the immense emotions caused by the disaster, the Senegalese state conducted a quick, sloppy investigation and closed the case. At the time, the ship’s commander was held solely responsible for the tragedy. A perpetrator without punishment: he himself disappeared in the sinking.
What do we know twenty years later about the causes of the catastrophe and those responsible? “Le Monde Afrique” has reopened the file. The reports of Senegalese and French experts, as well as the technical data of the boat and the pictures taken a few hours before the tragedy show that the ship did not meet the basic safety requirements. Risks that the Senegalese Army operating the boat could not ignore.
Among the sources cited:
French investigation report. Jean Raymond Thomas, Pierre Lefebvre, and Michel Tricot.
Senegalese investigation report of the Technical Investigation Commission. November 4, 2003.
Report of the Military Commission. October 1, 2002.
The Disappeared of Joola, by Adrien Absolu (ed. JC Lattès, 2016)