Dozens feared dead after Guinea ferry accident

Rescuers comb the waters off Guinea, desperately searching for the survivors of a deadly weekend boat accident.

At least eight people perished and dozens more are missing after a wooden ferry capsized Friday near Conakry, the capital of the West African state.

Port officials have not said what caused the boat to flip, but one survivor says the seas were rough.

"There was a lot of wind," says Mame Asta Bangoura. "We had hardly passed the signal area when the engine stopped again and the boat capsized."

Relatives of the victims, many overcome by grief, gathered near the local morgue.

(SOUNDBITE)(Soussou) IBRAHIMA CONDE, PARENT OF THREE VICTIMS, SAYING:

"When they started to fish out the bodies I saw there was the body of my aunt and her two children. They are all at the morgue now."

It was the latest in a series of accidents off the coast of West Africa where boats are often overcrowded and poorly maintained.